


Stargat3 Univ3rs3

by ThetaWolfe



Category: Numb3rs, Stargate Universe
Genre: Aliens, F/M, Gen, Greer being way overprotective, Het, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mathematics, Rush being his usual self, Slash, Young getting a clue
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-18
Updated: 2014-12-20
Packaged: 2017-12-12 06:24:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 136,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/808331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThetaWolfe/pseuds/ThetaWolfe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first three times Dr. Rush approached Charlie about the opportunity of a lifetime, Charlie kicked him out. The fourth time, they went through his student. It worked. Rating bumped to M for swearing and future M scenes. Slash and Het ahoy: Charlie x Greer, Matt x Chloe, Young x Rush, Eli x ?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Air Part One

" _Sure, it's going to kill a lot of people, but they may be dying of something else anyway."_

**Air Part 1**

It was dark, very dark. The room was cast in only a pale blue light from the iridescent mathematic improbability behind him. The metal floor was so cold where his knees thrummed from the cruel impact. His left hand clutched his military issued duffel bag as he ducked instinctually. A large black crate flew over his head, narrowly missed him, a backpack connected painfully with his back.

Fingers digging into flesh, a bruising grip around his bicep, shoulder socket wrenched painfully. Charlie found himself being pulled out of the way as another crate slammed into his previous position followed by a person. Dull confused eyes gazed around the too dark room, dozens of people were scattered about, some injured, all yelling. It was too loud…it was too everything.

It was chaos, everywhere people were crying, screaming, shouting. Everyone was confused; there were so many questions and no answer in sight. And more people just kept coming. They were tumbling out of the Stargate like the Devil was on their heels.

"Where are we?" A female voice yelled, her words barely registering through the panic. Charlie recognized the voice, but he couldn't see over the congregating mass. It was that one woman from IOA, but he couldn't remember her name.

"Move off to the side," a male voice replied, barely covering the hysteria. Lieutenant Scott, the soldier that had been assigned to him and his student. Speaking of which, where was his student?

Scared brown eyes darted around the room, a shout for a Medic momentarily distracting him. He was positive Eli had made it through before him, so where was he? The influx of people finally came to a halt and the young Professor turned to the still active Stargate fear and trepidation settling uncomfortably in his chest.

The event horizon shimmered forebodingly before a body was rocketed out of the wormhole and nearly twenty feet across the room. It took Charlie micro seconds to plot the fall trajectory, the person would be lucky to survive. The Stargate deactivated even before the man had hit the ground and the room was cast in true and complete darkness.

The sudden darkness and activation of the cooling system underneath the gate had the group of survivors in near hysterics before flashlights started to appear all around him. The small torches did little to stave off the dark, but it was better than nothing and Charlie felt a small portion of panic leave him. He wanted Don here; his brother would know what to do. But his brother wasn't here, and Charlie knew he needed to get himself together. He needed to find Eli.

It was the bright red shirt that gave him away. Nobody else on the Icarus base would wear such a bright color. Charlie made his way over to his very promising but unmotivated student who was standing nearly underneath the curving staircase. Excuse me, and beg your pardon were ineffective in clearing a path, so the Professor resulted in pushing and shoving his way through the congregated mass.

Fingers latching onto his student's elbow, Charlie barely made it to Eli's side before a panicked "TJ!" had everyone surging to the sides. From his new position next to Eli, Charlie could see what the panic was about. Colonel Young lay still and unmoving on the metal floor. TJ, who Charlie assumed was a Medic finally made it to Scott's side and he watched as the younger man attempted to reign in his own panic as he took in the group of survivors.

"Wallace!" Scott yelled, and his student finally took his eyes off the injured man and Charlie was able to see his pallid face set in shock. "What is this place?"

A question everyone wanted answers to, but why would his student know? "I just," Eli turned away from Matt and his light hazel brown eyes met his own dark ones. "I just did what Doctor Rush told me," panic and hysteria coloring his voice. His eyes pleading for understand, forgiveness… he just wanted somebody to tell him that it wasn't his fault.

Anger, disbelief, and desperation danced across the Lieutenants face, none of which Eli saw, his eyes still latched on his Professor's. Charlie squeezed his elbow in comfort but did little else to reassure him. "Where is he?"

Only once Scott had asked did Charlie realize that the Scotsman was missing. "You two," two fingers pointing at the Mathematicians over the heads of the Icarus personnel separating them. "Help me find him." Lieutenant Scott moved off a few paces, conferring with a soldier Professor Eppes had never seen before. They were too far away to hear and Charlie was simply too… everything to care.

Numbers, trajectories, statistics ran across his mind, a coping mechanism that was effective in stemming the panic he was feeling. He was pulled back into the nightmare when a strange sense of vertigo overtook him and his vision was momentarily washed out with colors. It seemed to set off another bout of hysteria over the group.

Only when Eli winced and shifted uncomfortably next to him did he realize his grip had become too strong. Turning to apologize, he was interrupted when Scott yelled at them. "Eppes, Eli, NOW!"

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"I've solved it," Eli Wallace shouted, slamming the door open, wood bouncing off wall and almost hitting him in the face. His excited exclamation was lost on the one person in the room, since he was wearing sound cancelling headphones and heard not a word.

The slightly chubby 25 year old pulled a facial expression that he would deny was a pout until the day he died and tried again. Approaching the other who's back was turned; he tapped on the shorter man's shoulder and waited for his presence to be acknowledged.

"Eli, it's good to see you," Charles Eppes, the CalSci Math Professor, said as he pulled himself away from the chalk covered black board. Equations covered the board in atrocious handwriting, barely discernable to even the creator, and Eli was sure he had never seen anything so amazing.

A huge smile plastered itself across the younger man's boyish face as he held up a notebook. "Professor, I solved it." His Professor looked upon him in barely concealed amusement, dark brown eyes twinkling, before he grabbed the book and opened it slowly. He was being humored. "I know I got it…this time." Eli sounded less sure, wanting so badly to be right, wanting to please his Professor.

"That's what you said last time…and the time before that," Charlie stated with no malice and a little bit of fondness. He knew his student had been trying so hard. The pages before him were scribbled in numbers and a language he had never seen before last month.

When his newest student approached him about an equation hidden in a computer game, the Professor saw a great teaching opportunity. Eli was great kid, and a brilliant mathematician in the making, but he was so unmotivated it was almost painful. Charlie had been trying to find a way to motivate him into doing something with his mind, and now he had found the perfect means.

Eli had come to his Professor, hoping for an answer, or at least a push in the right direction. Instead what he got was a mischievous smile and a shove out the door. Professor Eppes wanted him to solve the problem on his own, so he did. Of course if he got too off track, Charlie was more than willing to steer him back into the right direction.

Charlie could have given him the answer, after all it had only taken him a week and a half to solve the equation, but that would have defeated the purpose. So instead he pushed Eli to do it himself, and Charlie knew that he would. Though his student may have been unmotivated, he loved his video games and a challenge.

So far, the equation looked sound. Charlie spent a few more minutes, going over the work while Eli fidgeted in place, anxiousness oozing off of him. The young Professor was tempted to let the kid sweat it out for a little longer, but he wasn't that cruel. "And this time…you are correct Mr. Wallace. You have solved it."

A holler met his statement and he was suddenly engulfed in a bear hug as Eli yelped in joy. Charlie patted him on the back and laughed at his student's joy. Once the other had calmed down, he let his curiosity get the better of him. "So, what did the equation do?"

The joy left Eli's face and a look of annoyance took over. "Absolutely nothing, can you believe that?"

A knock interrupted Eli's rant and they turned to the door as a man dressed in military blues walked in. "Eli Wallace?"

Eli glanced over at his Professor in confusion. A hard look spread across the Professor's face and he stepped in front of his student, blocking him from the older man. "Who's asking?"

An indulgent smile spread across the other's face as he entered the room fully. "Don't worry Professor Eppes; we just want to ask him a few questions."

The CalSci student glanced between his teacher and the stranger in trepidation. The way his Professor was acting scared him, but curiosity won out. Still standing behind the young Professor he asked, "About what?"

The grey haired military man turned away from them and waved to somebody down the hall that they couldn't see. Seconds later another man, this one dressed in civilian clothing, stepped into the room and Eli heard his teacher inhale sharply. "Rush," Charlie said in what wasn't exactly a greeting.

"Eppes," Rush replied.

The standoff continued for several more seconds before it was broken by the older man. "O'Neill, with two l's," Eli found himself smiling in spite of himself.

"What can I do for you two, gentleman?" Charlie asked in a rather frigid tone, arms crossing in a defensive manner.

O'Neill removed his hat and came further into the office while Rush started to explain. "Mr. Wallace, you spent a rather lot of time recently playing an online fantasy game called Prometheus, did you not?"

"Is this what this whole thing's about, a game?" Eli asked, moving from behind his Professor. Charlie was liking the situation even less. "Seriously, does Big Brother have nothing better to do?"

"Last night, you solved the Decara's weapons puzzle," Rush continued, ignoring Eli's quip.

"A month of my life went into that," a look passed Eli's face. "Do you know what happens when you solve it…" he leaned forward conspiratorially. "Nothing."

"We're here…that happened," O'Neill chimed in from his position at the Professor's desk. He was picking up random objects, inspecting them, before placing them where they clearly did not belong. Don did the same thing, so Charlie was completely unaffected by such a juvenile action.

Rush smiled softly, completely undeterred. "To complete that particular puzzle you have to solve a millennium old mathematical proof written in another language. And for that you have won something of prize."

Eli rolled his eyes; something about the situation didn't feel right. "Yeah, well I had help," gesturing halfheartedly to his Professor. Charlie smiled at him softly, even as he felt his heart sink at the words.

"Yes, Professor Eppes," Rush said, turning to him. "I believe I approached you several months ago for this very same problem." Eli turned stunned eyes to his teacher. "You said no."

Charlie's eyes narrowed as he watched the man before him. "And I am still saying no."

"Professor," Eli's voice was suddenly very unsure. "What's going on?"

"How long did it take you to solve the Decara puzzle, Professor Eppes?" Rush inquired, "Three weeks…two…one?" Charlie's jaw tightened, refusing to answer. "Just as I thought," Rush opened his worn leather briefcase, pulling out two stacks of papers. "These are non-disclosure agreements-"

"Let me get this straight," Eli interrupted him, sounding defensive. "You people imbedded a top secret problem into a game hoping someone like _me_ would solve it, because _he_ wouldn't? Why do you need us now?"

Another soft smile, "I assure you, it will be worth your while to sign it."

Eli took both stacks when Charlie refused to touch them. "And if we don't?" Though he asked, the gamer wasn't so sure he wanted to know.

O'Neill straightened, resuming his position by the door. "We'll beam you up onto our space ship."

Eli chuckled nervously at how serious he sounded. "I am going to have my lawyer look over these-"

"And by lawyer you mean mother," O'Neill interrupted.

"So we agree, we will call you," Eli continued as if he hadn't been cut off, ushering them out the door before closing it in their faces. Turning back to his Professor, who still looked defensive, he said, "Well that was strange."

Eli moved over to Charlie, handing him his own non-disclosure agreement while he looked at his in curiosity. Charlie glanced at his like it was toxic. "Eli," he started, "I don't think we should even consider this."

Bringing his eyes up from the pages Eli looked at him like he had a second head. "Consider it, are you kidding me. Not me, nope, I am perfectly happy playing my 'online fantasy games' and besides, my Mom needs me."

A sad look passed over Charlie's face and he moved to comfort his student, but before he could, they were engulfed in a bright white light, and everything changed. "Wo…wha' th," Eli stuttered, gazing out of the window down to what could no doubt be Earth. Charlie was in the same shock, stapled papers falling from his limp hand.

"Welcome aboard the Hammond, Eli, Eppes," they both turned to Doctor Rush who looked rather smug and a little proud. "Yes that is Earth and yes you are on a space ship." Eli glanced around him, taking in the metal room and blinking systems, Charlie only looked at Rush. "We need your help, both of you, and to be honest…I don't know how long it is going to take."

"I should, ah, call my Mom. You know, tell her where I am," Eli said distracted, waving his cell phone around while he began to dial.

Another small smile graced Dr. Rush's features, filled with amusement. "That is probably not going to work up here."

"Right," Eli said, trying to sound like he knew that all along. Charlie found himself relaxing at the familiar behavior.

"There is a cover story you both will need to learn while we are on our way," Rush finally turned to them both.

Charlie moved up so he was standing less in the background, holding up a hand to forestall Rush from continuing any further. "On the way…" trailing off, not sure how to finish that sentence.

"To another planet of course," Rush stated. He made it sound like it was common place, then again, it might just be. "Twenty-One light years from Earth."

The distance made the situation finally kick home. "We can't go," Charlie said, hand reaching up onto Eli's shoulder in comfort. "I have obligations, and Eli has…his mother…"

"We know all about Ms. Wallace's illness."

Eli's face fell, feeling ashamed and saddened. "You guys just know everything don't you?"

"We also know that you are currently unemployed, in debt because of your school tuition, and your mother's medical coverage is an…" he paused to find the appropriate words, "ongoing issue. We'll see that she gets the best medical care while you are gone."

"And if I don't sign, what, you're going to erase my memory?" Eli said, laughing at the movie reference.

"Something like that," Rush replied in all seriousness. Both Charlie and Eli felt the hairs on the back of their neck stand.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

The Hammond broke orbit slowly as it made its way out into the galaxy. Once it was free of the Earth's gravitational pull, it entered Hyperspace and started its journey across the stars. Inside the great impressive space ship, Charlie sat with Eli Wallace in a small room. The chairs that were provided them were uncomfortable to the point of almost torture and the video's, after the first hour, even more so.

Charlie had heard about Daniel Jackson, the doctor who was laughed out of the archeological world before dropping off the face of the planet. And as they watched him narrate the footage, Charlie could see why. The Stargate was truly a fascinating device and the Ancients even more so, but after four hours of it, he was about to pull his hair out in frustration.

Eli sighed dramatically next to him, before he threw his pen across the room a stood suddenly. "Okay, time out, break time."

Charlie laughed at him, standing up as well. His back popped in several places as his joints decided to rebel. "I second that motion."

Eli turned to his Professor, a smile crossing his features. "Thanks again, for coming with me." Charlie just nodded his head, his own look falling as Eli turned away from him. This was the exact situation he had been trying to avoid, and now it seemed as if both of them were caught up right in the middle of it.

The first time Rush had approached him, Charlie had been curious, but had kindly declined. The military had, after all, told him that he would be gone for an undisclosed amount of time, with limited contact with his family. After the years Don and him had spent trying to repair their relationship, and finally finding a comfortable niche, he didn't want to give that up. No matter how tempting.

The second time Rush approached him, Charlie was even more curious. Why did the military need _him_ so badly? But again he had refused. Rush didn't give up so easily though. It took hours to get the man to leave him alone, and only after a lot of yelling.

The third time did not end well at all. Charlie threw the man, and his military escort out before they could even get halfway through the pitch.

The fourth time, they went through his student. And it seemed to have worked. They gave Eli an offer he couldn't refuse. Medical Care for his Mother, his debt for college completely paid off, and the chance of a lifetime. The alternative, getting his memory wiped and everything going back to being the way it was before.

Charlie had seen what the military did to consultants like Eli. They would break him, chew him up and spit him out. They would ruin him and Charlie could not let that happen. So he did what Don would do, Charlie became Eli's temporary big brother, he came with him. Charlie may not have looked like much, or even been much at all, but he would protect Eli to the best of his abilities.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"Where are you?" Alan asked, knife stilling from where he was chopping up a cucumber for dinner. Don, Amita, and Larry were supposed to come over in a few hours to have dinner, and now it seemed like they would be down one plate.

"I can't say," Charlie replied, a weird whooshing noise humming in the background.

Alan sat down heavily, sighing quietly in the phone. "Can you at least tell me what you are going to be doing?"

He never liked it when Charlie would suddenly disappear, only to come back weeks, months later, a little quieter, a little more scarred, a little colder. That was supposed to be over now; since Don had come back Charlie barely accepted any of the contracts he had been offered, and none that would take him too far away. There seemed to be something different this time, and he didn't like it.

"Math," Charlie replied, it was the only honest answer he could give. "I'm sorry, Dad. They didn't give me any warning."

They wouldn't have, the military was like that. Alan heard the front door open and close quickly. "Dad I'm home," Don's voice carried through the house and Alan could hear the sharp inhale coming from Charlie.

"I'm in hear Don," he replied, setting the phone down for a moment to explain to Don what was happening. When his eldest son entered the kitchen, he started to go on about his day before a look from his father caused him to stop.

"Dad, what's going on?"

His father sighed heavily again, before he put the phone on speaker. He didn't know what was going on, and he didn't know how to tell Don that. "Charlie's on the phone."

It was kind of mean of him to put it on his youngest son to explain, but Charlie had just sprung it on him. "Hey buddy," Don spoke loudly to be heard from the other side of the room, grabbing a beer out of the fridge. "What's going on, when you getting home? Dad's soup smells fantastic, you're not staying late at the office again, cuz if you are, I'm eating your share."

A dry laugh sounded from over the speaker, "No, Don, I'm not at the office."

Don paused at the counter, pulling the top off his beer, before he made his way slowly over the table. Something was seriously wrong. "Then where are you?"

When Charlie failed to answer after several seconds Alan answered for him. "He can't say."

Anger and worry overtook Don, and instead of sitting at the table with his dad he found himself pacing in anxiety. "Can't or won't? Charlie, what the hell is going on?"

"Can't Donnie, I'm sorry but it is classified. Very…very classified," Charlie sounded distracted. "Look, they gave me no warning, alright. One minute I'm in my office with one of my students, and the next I'm here."

"Damn it, Charlie. I thought you weren't going to take any more of these classified cases."

Charlie laughed dryly again. "I'm sorry Donnie, but it wasn't like they gave me the choice."

The FBI Agent stopped his pacing suddenly and rushed over to the table, worry for his little brother taking over. "Charlie, are you okay? If they have hurt you in any way, I swear-"

"Don," Charlie interrupted him. "I'm fine, they haven't hurt us. But, it's just, look Donnie, I might be out of contact for a while, and you can't be poking around for me. Okay, you have to promise."

"Buddy-"

"No Don," his brother sounded desperate. "These are not the people you investigate; they're the kind that can make _you_ disappear. Promise me!"

Don wondered what his little brother had found himself involved in. Those who could make an FBI Agent disappear, it would seem. "I promise." Don wasn't sure if he was telling the truth but it seemed to be enough for Charlie.

"Okay…okay." Charlie sounded reassured. "Look, I'll try to contact you as often as I can, but where were going doesn't really have…service, for lack of a better word," he paused, and both of the elder Eppes could hear him forcing back tears. "I love you guys."

"Me too, buddy, me too."

"Stay safe."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

The hallways were even darker than the room they had just left. Lieutenant Scott was leading them, gun pointing down the hall in a sweeping pattern, Eli not far behind. Charlie brought up the rear at a more sedate pace, the adrenaline finally wearing off and leaving him feeling lethargic.

"Hey, I recognize these symbols," Eli's voice broke into his haze and Charlie hurried to catch up.

"From the game?" Matt asked, light shining on the door.

Charlie moved up so he could see as well, a dim light on the side catching his attention. Moving closer, he placed his hand upon it and it depressed like a lever, making a hissing noise before he could hear gears catching and the middle of the door twisting as it unlocked. The door opened suddenly, startling all of them in the process. That was soon forgotten by the sight that greeted them.

Rush stood before three large windows that took up an entire wall, and outside was a blending of colors. "We're on a ship?" Eli murmured, putting the pieces together.

"The design is clearly Ancient, in the truest sense of the word," Rush supplied quietly, his voice filling the otherwise quiet room. "Launched, hundreds of thousands of years ago. Faster than light, yet not through hyperspace. Who knows how far it's traveled." Charlie and the others approached him, also looking out the windows. He was right, of course, the ship was ancient. It looked to be falling apart at the very seams.

"Dr. Rush," Scott interrupted is strange monologue. "We have a lot of wounded and we need to get home."

" _Lieutenant Scott,"_ Matt's radio crackled, startling them all out of the daze they had been in.

"Yeah, TJ. Go ahead."

" _One of the vents just shut down in here."_

Eli took a deep breath before stating the obvious. "The air is getting kind of thin in here too."

Scott turned to Rush hoping for an explanation. "What does that mean?"

Rush took a moment to answer, eyes still riveted on the space outside. "It means the life support is failing. And we should probably do something about that."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

The air was becoming thinner in the Gate Room. TJ glanced over at the others congregating around the area. Adrenaline was still running high, but some people were collapsing from the realization of their predicament.

She turned her attention back to the Colonel. Young was still unresponsive, lying still like the dead as she took his vitals. The Senator's daughter approached her slowly, cautiously offering her assistance. Though inexperienced, she was thankful.

Colonel Young's eyes opened suddenly, but they were glazed as if he was lost in his own mind. "Colonel," TJ called, trying to get him to focus. For several seconds she thought she had succeeded, and then he started seizing.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Professor Eppes stood uncertainly next to Eli as they took in the sight of their first alien planet. As planets went, Charlie thought it was quite unimpressive. It looked very dry. Eli on the other hand looked as if he was having the time of his life. Within seconds he had his iPhone out and was snapping pictures. Charlie almost laughed at the sight, but he knew Eli would be very disappointed when he realized that the military would not allow him to keep the pictures.

"Senator," a man in uniform approached them, a large smile plastered on his face. "It is my honor to welcome you to Icarus base."

Senator Armstrong shook his hand in a friendly manner. "Colonel," he greeted. "This is my Executive Assistant, Chloe."

The girl Charlie had seen talking with Eli in the mess hall on the ship held her hand out in greeting. "Pleasure to meet you, sir."

"Pleasure," the Colonel agreed, a more natural smile taking over.

As they broke apart, Senator Armstrong snuck in the last word. "She is also my daughter." Eli looked shocked, nodding his head slowly to himself as if the world now made sense, but Charlie heard the barely concealed threat hidden in the Senator's voice. The way the Colonel stiffened, he must have heard it as well.

The Colonel turned to the others, "And you two must be…" he trailed off, not sure how to finish.

"The contest winners," Eli supplied helpfully. Charlie just shook his head in amusement. "That is a really big gun." Let it not be said that Eli was very good at changing subjects.

"Rail gun," another voice supplied. He was also dressed in a military uniform, younger than the one before them, and he seemed nicer. His smile was far more relaxed, as if he did a lot of it. "It shoots 500 rounds per minute," Eli's reaction, of course, was to take another picture.

"This is Lieutenant Matthew Scott; he is to be assigned to you, Professor, and your student."

"Shall we go inside?" Rush interrupted, clearly wanting to get on with it.

The expanding group started to make its way inside the mountain, Rush and the Colonel leading with Senator Armstrong, discussing something along the lines of shaving money and air conditioning. The conversation between Eli and Lieutenant Scott was far more interesting. "It's too dangerous on the surface," Scott was telling Eli.

"Why is that?" Charlie smiled an Eli's naiveté. It was obvious that Scott was picking on him, though in more of a friendly kind of way than hurtful.

"Dinosaurs, Eli, dinosaurs."

The look that crossed Eli's face was comical and Charlie had resist laughing as awe shown in the younger man's eyes. "Really!"

Scott looked at him for a second, before replying with a straight, no-nonsense, face, "No."

Charlie couldn't stop himself from laughing if he tried.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

The first time he saw the Stargate it was truly a magnificent sight. It was larger than he thought it would be. Eli stood in awe next to him, taking another picture of the amazing machine.

"Unbelievable," Eli whispered, still in shock.

"Yeah," Scott agreed quietly next to them. "It is. It is weird how fast you can take something like this for granted."

"So," Eli started, his voice distanced as if he was working on a problem out loud. "If a Stargate can instantly transport you to another planet, than why did we fly here on a space ship?"

"It has something to do with how this one is tied into the planet for power," Scott replied, pushing off of the wall he had been leaning against and making his way over to the two mathematicians. "Apparently it's been modified to only dial out because incoming wormholes are too dangerous. You two are the genius' you could probably tell me better."

Eli scoffed at him. "All I did was figure out a puzzle in a video game; Professor Eppes probably solved it weeks before me." Eli nudged him with his elbow, blushing at being called a genius.

"Stop selling yourself short, Eli," Charlie commented. That was always his favorite thing about his student. Eli could have discovered the answer to life as everyone knows it and still would have blushed and stumbled his way through the praise.

"Well, in any case," Lieutenant Scott interrupted their moment. "You two solved a problem that Dr. Rush has been trying to solve for _months._ And for that, a lot of people around here are really glad to see."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"And of course you met Colonel Telford," Rush's Scottish lilt filled the large room, making introductions for the Senator.

Senator Armstrong grabbed the Colonel's hand to shake. "You ready for this Colonel?"

"You just give the word, sir," Telford replied, a rather shit eating grin spread across his face. Charlie zoned out at that point, choosing instead to watch the others around them. Eli was bouncing in place, excitement oozing out of every pore. Chloe, the Senator's daughter, appeared just as excited, but was restraining herself a great deal better than his student.

Before he knew it, the gate was spinning in place, making a loud grinding noise of stone on stone. It had begun. One by one, the chevrons locked in place, lighting the Stargate up in orange lights. "Chevron eight, locked," Sargent Riley said, peering intently at the screen. The whole base started to shake and tremble as the Stargate turned and turned in circles. "Chevron nine encoded."

Electricity started to dance around the gate, and everyone started to feel nervous. "What's going on?" Charlie asked their guide, Lieutenant Scott.

Scott turned to him, worry spreading across his own face. "I don't know, we never got this far before."

"Chevron nine…" Riley called, eyes never leaving the screen. "Chevron nine will not lock."

Telford crossed his arms, anger started to get the better of him. Rush shook his head in disbelief; ripping his glasses off, he made his way over to the screen. "We matched the power requirements down to the EMU…it must work."

"Power levels indicate capacitors are going into the red," Riley stated calmly.

"Shut it down," Colonel Young demanded making his way over to the group.

"Wait, wait, wait," Rush pleaded.

"Fluctuations indicate that-"

"Shut it down now," Young ordered, hand clasping the young Sargent's shoulder briefly. The Gate slowly powered down as the trembling finally stopped. Electricity still crackled along the top for a minute more before that too stopped.

"It should have worked," Rush told Young, approaching the man cautiously.

"Well, it didn't," the Colonel nearly snapped at him. "And drawing power from the-"

"Dangerous," Rush supplied, anger starting to creep up on him as well. "Yes, we were aware of that."

"Regardless," Young snapped, "of what's been spent or what's at stake my first priority is to ensure the safety of the people on this base." The way he said it was as if he had to remind Rush of the lives at stake. It made Charlie's hands go cold. Just what did he get himself involved in?

Rush turned his eyes to the Senator before he agreed quietly. "Of course," he turned his eyes to Young. "Of course."

"Eli," Rush didn't quite turn to the math student. "We best run through your equations again. Professor Eppes, if you will join me?"

Dr. Rush turned and walked off, a look of disbelief taking over Eli's features. "You are not seriously putting this on me?" He was right of course, Eli's math was sound. Charlie had checked it himself. Slowly others started to make their way out of the room, following Dr. Rush. Charlie waited with Eli as he stood their stunned. His student slowly turned to the rest of the group, words catching in his throat as Telford all but glared at him. "Not my fault."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

When Lieutenant Matthew Scott made his way back to the Gate Room he could hear people shouting at each other, demanding to know what was going on. Just as he entered the room, lights came on and some people cheered. He had left Dr. Rush, Eppes, and Eli in the 'interface control room' as it was properly named and he quietly thanked them for getting the systems up and running.

Making his way into the center of the room, he tried to gather everyone's attention. "Listen up," it didn't work. He tried several more times before he finally shouted at the top of his lungs. "HEY, LISTEN UP!" That seemed to work, and everyone gave him their undivided attention. "We are on an Ancient ship," Scott's bravado leaving him as desperate faces met his. "That's all I got," he finished, sentence trailing off.

Senator Armstrong approached him, arm clutched around his mid-section, his daughter Chloe helping him to stand. "You need to use the Stargate to get us all back home." Though injured and weak, he still was able to command with strength. Scott resisted the urge to cow before him.

Nodding his head in a pacifying sort of way, he continued, "That is definitely on the list of things to do, but right now-"

"Consider that an order," Senator Armstrong interrupted him, teeth gritting as pain engulfed him.

"Were working on it, sir," Scott tried to keep the frustration out of his voice, but he failed miserably.

The Senator glared at him, "I need to speak to the person responsible for this," glancing around he shouted, "where is Dr. Rush, I need-"

"Just shut up for a second!" Lieutenant Scott shouted at him, at his wits end. The whole situation was way above his experience and it was beginning to show.

"How _dare_ you…you-" Senator Armstrong cried out in agony, nearly doubling over.

"Water," Scott called out, as the Senator demanded for his pills. Once the Senator was stable he continued. "Look, I'm just trying to explain our situation," he paused, not sure how to continue. "We're on a ship, but we have no idea where we are in relation to Earth. With respect sir," Scott addressed the Senator, frustration nearly gone for the moment. "The reason you might be having a hard time breathing is because…because the ships life support system is not functioning properly." Panic started to once again set in on the group, but Scott continued before it could take them over. "Dr. Rush and Professor Eppes are working on that right now. Brody, and Park with me,"

"But these consoles just came on," Brody told him, fingers itching to explore.

"No," Scott nearly shouted at him, moving closer as if to physically stop him. "Nobody touch anything yet. Dr. Rush and Professor Eppes need your help. Everybody else," he turned back to the rest of the group. "Stay calm, stay put…please."

"Stay put," a voice shouted out from the group as Scott turned down the corridor, Brody and Park following after. "Wait, so you're just going to go like that?"

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The blue fabric covering the chair that he sat on was worn and tearing. Even still, Charlie could clearly see the pattern forming as the mathematical equation behind it danced around in his mind. Briefly he started on what would have been a long winded but easily solved equation starting with ∂C/∂t = F(C) + D2C. It was almost enough to drown out Dr. Rush's annoyed huff as he paced back and forth in front of the white board.

Step-step-step-step turn, step-step-step-step turn. He paused only to set the marker on the board, neither altering nor erasing the numbers that decorated the smooth surface already, before he resumed his pacing. The sound of Rush's boots on the cement drew the young Professor's attention away from the navy blue pattern. Charlie only stared for a second, maybe two, before his mind started to pull the sounds into another long winded equation. Step-step-step-step turn, λ2 - γtr(A)λ + γ2det(A)= 0, step-step-step-step turn.

"There has to be a mistake in here somewhere," though Rush was talking, his sentence was phrased more at himself as he yet again paused to stare at the elaborate equations presented to the room. Charlie didn't even bother looking at it again. It was right, it had always been right. There was no mistake. The chair beside him squeaked as Eli twisted it back and forth, occasionally spinning in an entire circle and repeating the process.

They had been here for hours, Rush pacing, Eli spinning, and Charlie lost in the numbers. He wished Don was here, his brother had always been able to pull him away from the numbers when they made his head fuzzy, forcing him to concentrate on the here and now. Currently he felt in the beginning stages of blocking the world out. Before he could take the plunge into the equations that governed his entire existence, a sudden movement next to him yanked him back to reality. Eli had raised his hand.

A small smile danced across Eppes' lips as Rush just looked bemused before gesturing for Eli to speak. "Seriously, who uses a whiteboard anymore? You have computers, like, _everywhere_ around here."

Charlie tried not to laugh. But then again what would he know; the Math Professor preferred black boards. Rush just blinked at him before he decided that it wasn't worth the effort to even acknowledge the useless statement. "The power flow was in the target range. Why wouldn't the address connect?"

"Wrong address?" Eli questioned, his chair squeaking loudly afterwards.

Professor Eppes' eyes snapped over to his student in surprise. Equations were already dancing through his mind as he adjusted the equation on the board to fit the new parameters. That could work. But he needed to narrow it down, either the sending address was wrong, or maybe…maybe the home address.

"There is only one, found in the Ancient database in Atlantis," Rush replied absently, biting his thumb in thought as he stared in a dazed sort of way at the whiteboard.

"With no other instructions?" Eli continued, speaking to the back of Rush's head. Charlie didn't like Rush, not even remotely, but even he had to give the man credit. Though he was thoroughly engrossed in the equation before him, he was still in the here and now. He was able to answer Eli's questions because he didn't get lost in the numbers, not like Charlie did. He envied Dr. Rush for that.

"No," Rush replied, he didn't sound annoyed, just positive in his findings. "No, but that's not the issue. It has to be your proof."

Charlie snapped his eyes up to his student when he stood abruptly and made his way over to the Scotsman. "My proof works," The conviction in his voice was the most self-assured Charlie had ever heard it. "You know how I know that it does? Because Professor Eppes said so and because _you_ said so." His finger pointing from one to the other as he spoke.

Rush turned to him briefly, sighing softly as he took his glasses off and squeezed the bridge of his nose. Charlie couldn't tell if he was annoyed or tired, he had never been very good a discerning non-verbal cues. He was saved from having to decipher the equally emotionally stunted man before him by Colonel Young who walked into the room with a smile. At least somebody seemed to be in a good mood.

"Gentlemen, how's it coming?" The question prompted a small smile from Eppes, and a snort of laughter from Eli. Rush's reaction though was the most disturbing. He set the marker down and picked up the eraser, where he then proceeded to wipe the entire board clean. Charlie didn't much care; it would take him no time at all to rewrite the numbers. Eli on the other hand looked to be having a fit.

"Whoa, whoa. What are you doing?" Eli's shout turned several heads but nobody seemed even curious.

"Starting from the beginning," Rush replied, distractedly.

"Wait! Save! Save! Save!" Eli held his hands up in a T, desperately trying to get the other man to stop. When that didn't work he tried to make a grab for the eraser but it was too late. The board was blank, only fractions of writing visible on the spots missed by the older man. Colonel Young raised an eyebrow but didn't seem all surprised by Rush's spontaneous action. Then again, they had been working together on base for half a year now.

Eli barely caught the eraser that Rush carelessly tossed at him before the doctor picked up the marker and started writing furiously on the now clean board. The math student turned to the Colonel, flailing his arms in disbelief, "I can't-" Eli trailed off, not sure how to finish that sentence. He wasn't even properly sure how to start it.

Colonel Young just smiled at him gently, used to Rush's behavior. "Professor Eppes, Mr. Wallace, I'd like for the both of you to join me for dinner in the officer's mess," The Colonel would have included Dr. Rush in that invitation, but he knew better than to even ask.

Charlie stood slowly, back aching from the torture device cleverly disguised as a chair. Eli on the other hand, whooped while throwing his arms in the air in relief. "Thank you, I'm starving. I…"

"We're very close to a breakthrough here, and actually I'd like Professor Eppes and Eli to keep working," Rush cut in, not even turning away from the board. Charlie glared darkly at the man's back, he wasn't comfortable with the familiarity that Rush was pushing onto his student. The man was manipulative to the core and Charlie didn't like what Rush was pulling Eli into.

Eli had had a rough life, but he pushed through it and his mind was going to take him places. But this also put people off, and made him the one looking in while everyone else seemed to be moving forward. By applying a first name, Rush was subtly telling Eli he was important. It made him seem more human, humble even. Show the kid compassion and he will bring you the moon.

"Well, we've been here for six months. It can wait a few more hours," Colonel Young said diplomatically before a fight could start. The tension was nearly palpable in the room, with Rush's domineering nature and Charlie's protective instincts going into overdrive.

Rush just stared in bewilderment as Eli practically ran out of the room. Charlie followed at a more sedate pace leaving the numbers behind before he got lost at sea. He whispered a gentle 'thank you' as he passed the elder military man, grabbing his military issued duffel, knowing from experience never to leave it lying around. People were prone to make it disappear, especially around the soldiers. Colonel Young tilted his head slightly in reply as he too made his way to the mess hall, leaving a tired and irked genius to stew in silence.

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Silverware clinked against plates, metal chairs screeched painfully against the cement floor. Dinner on base was a rather normal affair. It reminded Charlie of dinner with his family, except these people were _not_ his family. The young professor sighed softly as he took another bite of the potatoes and feigned interest in the conversation around him. He desperately wished to be home.

"So tell me," Chloe's voice cut through the din chatter as she gazed at Colonel Telford, who shared a remarkable resemblance to Ian Edgerton. Maybe they were related. "What's it like when you finally go through the gate?"

Telford took a moment to swallow before he smiled charmingly at the younger woman. "When you go through the gate you don't really feel it. I'm telling you," he leaned forward slightly, a more natural smile gracing his lips, making him look years younger. "The moment you break through the atmosphere in an F-302 and you see the stars? That's incredible."

"Wow, that just sounds so amazing," Chloe smiled back, sounding lost for words. She was right of course, Charlie could only imagine it. "Could I, maybe, go for a ride sometime?" Charlie thought she was flirting shamelessly, but for that kind of opportunity, he would too.

Eli's gaze glanced between the two, a slight glare coming into them when they landed on the Colonel. "I can arrange that."

People started to wonder aloud at the possibility of such an experience. Charlie saw his student wince. "So, uh, Colonel," Eli interjected, trying to change topics. "You really have no idea where this Ninth Chevron Stargate address will send you?"

The question seemed posed at Young, but Telford was the one who answered. "No idea at all," a small smile following the words. This was the kind of man who reveled in the unknown. Eli just hummed at him noncommittally. "But the Ancients built the Stargate with nine chevrons. It's gotta go somewhere."

If only it was that easy, Charlie thought to himself as Eli scoffed lightly beside him. The equation was thousands if not millions of years old. The destination could all but be obliterated for all they knew. Taking another bite, Charlie noticed movement from the kitchen. It seemed Rush had pulled himself away from the equation long enough to bother with eating.

"Well, if anyone's going to solve it, I think Eli will," Chloe's soft voice cut in expertly. She knew her way around words, a politician. Charlie never got along well with politicians, but he had yet to meet the young woman, so he would reserve judgment. Besides, Eli seemed to like her well enough, but that wasn't saying much, Eli liked everybody.

Eli blushed under the praise, but pulled himself together and puffed up comically in pride. Lowering his voice in a serious manner he replied, "Yes, that's right. It's true. I am 'Math Boy'."

Laughter followed the statement and Charlie nearly choked on the water he had been drinking. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Rush leave quickly, one of the military personal still holding out a box of food, confusion and exasperation coloring his face. His attention was drawn back to the table when an older man stood up, wine glass in hand.

"I would like to propose a toast," Senator Armstrong started before Eli interrupted him.

"Oh, that's really not necessary…"

"Not to you," Armstrong cut him off, not even glancing at the kid. Charlie saw Eli deflate in embarrassment. "When the proposal for this project first crossed my desk, I didn't want to approve it." Next to Eli, Chloe practically slammed her glass back onto the table before she hid her face with her hands. Charlie didn't know who looked more embarrassed at this point, his student, or the Senator's daughter.

Both Professor Eppes and Eli heard a whispered, "Oh my god," come from the young woman before the Senator started in his speech again. Eli leaned in close to her, whispering so quietly Charlie couldn't make out the words, but he assumed they were words of comfort.

"It seemed clear to me at the time that there were enough terrestrial matter of importance that needed that kind of money. Now being a proud father of a beautiful you woman is one thing," here he smiled down proudly at his daughter while Chloe grabbed her glass once again, but instead of holding it up in a toast, she started to chug the wine, much to Charlie's amusement. "Having that young woman exceed every possible expectation is quite another. My daughter, Chloe, reminded me that there was no greater endeavor that the seeking and understanding of who we are and the mysteries of the universe in which we all exist."

Chloe turned to Eli, refilling her glass of wine and spoke quietly, "Not in those exact words. No."

"It was also her idea," Armstrong continued, either oblivious or uncaring of Chloe's obvious distress. "To embed the Ancient proof in a medium that would give us access brilliant young minds that we would have otherwise overlooked," when the Senator nods to both Charlie and Eli, Chloe takes the slight pause to interject and end what would have otherwise been a long winded speech.

Standing so quickly that she nearly knocked the bottle of wine over, she smoothly entered herself into the toast. Charlie was beginning to like her more and more. "And so, to all the brave….men and women who have volunteered-"

A loud rumbling roar interrupted her speech, as the table trembled slightly. "Okay, what was that?" Chloe asked confused and a little scared. Charlie wasn't known to be excessively brave, or skilled in combat, but he had been in situations and locations that Don would flip if he knew. That had been an explosion; there was no mistaking it, and a large one at that.

Young was talking into his headset, but Charlie was too lost in the numbers to notice. Sound waves, motion trajectory, terrain matter, base structure, it was all calculating so quickly that the Professor came up with the conclusion seconds after the explosion. They were being attacked, and that was almost, but not quite a direct hit.

Another explosion, this one shaking the entire room as kitchen equipment rattled around loudly and fell off of tables and shelves. "The base is under attack," Young's voice broke through the haze of numbers, tone calm even as those around them began to panic. There is a momentary pause, and then everyone is thrown into motion.

"All non-combatant personnel," Young's voice echoed throughout the base as support structures started to buckle under the onslaught. "Report to your designated areas. Everyone else, to you battle stations. This is _not_ a drill," he turned to the group looking directly at Chloe and her father. "Senator, I need you and your daughter to go with Lieutenant Scott. Eli, Eppes, you too."

The Colonel's almost calm façade was enough to ease the edges of panic entering the Professor's mind as the numbers fled. Eli stood slowly from the chair, face pale and hands bunched up in his shirt. And then all hell broke loose.

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Scott walked in a slightly hurried pace next to Greer. Park and Brody were bringing up the rear, Brody huffing as his body was unused to the exertion. Shouting voices ahead broke everyone into a light jog before they entered a chamber with consoles situated around a floor-to-ceiling mass of cables, wires, and other metal bits that Scott couldn't hope to place.

"What's going on in here?" Greer's voice, though not hostile, still sounded aggressive and easily ended the all-out shouting match between Doctor Rush and…Eli? Scott's eyes swept the room and found Professor Eppes not far off, gazing adamantly at a console, but not touching. He seemed absorbed in thought, completely oblivious to the outside world.

"The life-support system is on," Rush supplied, Scottish accent low in a calming tone, barely hiding the annoyance he felt. "But for some reason, it's not working properly. I'm attempting to reset it."

Wallace turned to Scott, hand waving as he whispered, loud enough for the whole room to hear, "He has no idea what he's doing."

Greer's dark eyes swept around the room quickly before he raised his rifle to point it at the Scotsman. Park and Brody moved quickly out of the way from behind the doctor. "Step away from that thing."

Eli continued on, oblivious of the gun and everything else, except for the antagonizing man before him. "That screen says that what you're doing is gonna overload-"

"Eli," Rush interrupted, almost gently but he couldn't get anything else in edge wise as Eli's voice took on an edge of panic and hysteria.

"Is that what is says or not?"

"You only think you know what it says on this screen because I embedded a rudimentary version of the Ancient language into the game. This is not a game," Rush stated in a placating tone. He didn't seem angry with Eli, which Scott found strange, just certain that Eli had no idea what he was talking about.

Eli seemed a little less sure, but still anxious enough that Scott didn't want to take a chance. "Don't touch it, Rush."

The doctor looked right at him, hand still hovering over the console. "If the oxygen aboard this ship falls below critical level, it will become increasingly difficult to concentrate."

"But what you're doing could blow up the _whole ship_!"

"Are you sure, Eli?" Matt asked, turning his back to Rush to study the math student before him. Eli didn't look positive, but he was anxious enough that it was a possibility. The kid was dancing nervously in place, hands clenching, and eyes darting between Rush and his teacher Professor Eppes. Eppes was still completely oblivious to the escalating disaster around him, lips moving silently as he took in the console before him. Matt wished he would snap out of it.

Greer saw Rush's hand getting closer to the screen and took an aggressive step towards the older man. "Back off now, or I will shoot!"

Scott moved towards his subordinate quickly before things could get out of hand. "Lower your weapon, Sergeant!"

Professor Eppes pulled his eyes away from the screen before him and found that a significant amount of time must have passed. There were four more people in the room, and it seemed like there was some sort of standoff between Dr. Rush and a darker skinned military man he recognized from the base, but he couldn't place him. Charlie wondered briefly what he had missed as the tension in the room continued to rise. "He already screwed us once, I'm not gonna let him do it again."

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Colonel Young raced down the halls, pushing against the tide of human bodies as they surged in the opposite direction. "I need to get through, people. Stand aside," yelling didn't help as full blown panic set in. Even so, he continued on.

Finally he found himself in another hallway, this one deserted. When he ran to a cell and swiped his keycard, lights started to flicker and the base trembled and cracked. Finally the door opened and Master Sergeant Ronald Greer stood before him, standing to attention, but his body was tense and eyes darting around worried.

"Sergeant," Young's voice commanded his attention easily. "We're under attack. Don't know who, don't know why. Consider the charges dropped," the Colonel tossed the younger man a tac vest and weapon, who caught it easily. "Go take your anger out on them."

"Yes, sir," Ronald replied, relief clear in his voice. Now he was in his element.

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Colonel Samantha Carter stood on the Bridge of the battle ship _Hammond_. It was a nightmare. Colonel Young's voice broke through the radio as someone put a fire out behind her. "Who have we got, Colonel? Lucian Alliance?"

"That would be my guess," another shockwave went through the ship as there shields were hit portside with an out of control glider. Carter prayed it wasn't one of theirs. "They haven't introduced themselves. They started shooting the minute they came out of hyperspace," Sam gripped the back of the command chair as another missile slammed into their shields. "Our shields are holding, but we're not the target."

Explosions lit up the night sky as the planet below was assaulted. "What's heading our way?"

She hesitated momentarily, watching the view-screen intently. "A whole squadron of gliders and a troop transport. We've cut them down some, but the rest'll be on your doorstep in less than three minutes," Carter wished she could give them more time.

"Telford, did you copy?"

"Roger that." Colonel Telford replied, firing up his F-302 for takeoff. "If we can get to the transport before they land the troops, we stand a chance," engines roared to life, and Telford flew into the night sky, prepared to buy the people on base some more time.

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"I am going to press that button," Rush's hand moved a fraction lower as he talked. "It's gonna fix the life support, and then you and I and everyone else will be able to breathe and _think_ much better," Eli rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, shaking his head adamantly. Charlie eyes darted around the room, nervous as the tension became nearly palpable. "You can shoot me now it you like. But if, however, there are any negative consequences in resetting the system," Rush's voice became slightly smug as he smiled at the man holding a gun to his face. "I suggest you might still need me to help resolve them."

"Don't do it," Greer threatened, voice soft as he shifted his weapon.

Lieutenant Scott moved around to Greer's side. "Okay, look, Sergeant. I know we are in a tough situation here, but I am giving you an order. Lower…your…weapon."

Greer glanced sideways at Scott, before he returned his heated glare back at Rush. His gaze momentarily landed on the baby professor he had heard about. Nearly 27 years old, three years younger than himself and a math prodigy with several PhD's. The younger man was gazing around the room in interest and not a little trepidation. His gaze wasn't fixed on Rush and the impending explosion though, no, it was fixed to his gun.

Reluctantly he lowered the weapon, a smirk danced on his lips. If the kid didn't think Rush was doing anything wrong, then who was he to question a genius. Rush lowered his hand slowly, as if expecting to get shot, and pressed his fingers to the button gently. Everyone tensed in anticipation…and then nothing happened.

Scott looked around for a second, as if to check to make sure nothing changed. "So?"

"Well, I suppose that would have been too simple," Rush stated as he huffed in annoyance, before he left the room at an annoyed but sedate pace. Nothing seemed to faze that man.

"Apparently, that did nothing," Eli chuckled weakly as Eppes gazed at him with fondness. Scott and Greer exchange a bemused sort of look before the Lieutenant shook his head helplessly. They sighed almost in unison…scientists.

Grabbing the radio, Scott spoke calmly into it as he once again gazed around the room. "This may take a little more time, TJ. Hang in there."

"Copy," TJ's voice was one of resignation as she gazed sadly at the unconscious Colonel.

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Camile sat behind her desk, papers organized in neat little piles, hands folded in her lap. Tamara Johansen stood tense in front of her. "Does Colonel Young know about this?" Wray questioned gently.

TJ bobbed her head slightly. "He knows."

"Two weeks ago, you told me that this was the _best_ experience of your life. Something must have happened," Camile hinted softly as she leaned casually back in her chair, trying to portray a trustworthy confidant. She nearly succeeded, but not quite.

"The scholarship came in," TJ supplied, shrugging. "I-I guess I've been too afraid to admit what I really want."

Wray smiled skeptically at her. "Well, you didn't tell me you had even applied."

"There's nothing else going on. You know I'd tell you!"

"Unless," Wray leaned forward slightly. "Unless you were protecting someone else."

"I'm not," Tamara replied forcefully. "Like I said, I just hadn't made up my mind."

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TJ eyes caught those of Camile Wray who looked worse for wear. They all did. Blood was dripping down the side of Camile's face, but it was just a small cut, nothing to worry about. TJ nodded her head back at her as Wray acknowledged the medic. She then turned her attention back to Colonel Young, who was still unconscious and bleeding from the head wound.

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F-302s flew through the air gracefully like in a twisted ballet as they descended upon the gliders and troop transport. It was and aerial dogfight, there was no other way to explain it. Complete and utter chaos and destruction.

Colonel Young watched the air crafts burst into flames, one after the other from the entrance to the base. The rail gun booming heavily behind him as other troops fired upon the enemy. He prayed that they would survive this night.

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Dozens of people milled about near the Stargate, waiting to evacuate as the base started to collapse around them. Sergeant Hunter Riley sat diligently behind his station, watching the monitor. When it beeped he turned to the scientist behind him. "Dr. Rush? I'm reading a dangerous energy spike in the core."

Hands yanked at his hair as his eyes darted around in panic and disbelief before they settled on Eli Wallace who was near another station. "Eli," he called desperately. "Eli, I need your help."

"With what?"

"The ninth chevron."

"What?," Eli shouted, approaching the panicking scientist. "We need to get the hell out of here!"

"Look," Rush grabbed the younger man's arms. "It took us two years to find this site. The properties are unique. This may be our last chance," Rush pleaded. Another bomb exploded overhead and the entire chamber shook as the ceiling started to crumble. "If this bombardment continues, the radioactive core's going to go critical."

Eli tore his eyes away from the splintering cracks that were spreading to the walls. "Y-you mean the planet? It-it's going to explode?"

"Yes!" Rush shouted at him, letting the student know exactly what was at stake.

"Ah! Oh-oh-okay. Um, um, um…" Eli was trying desperately to think. Professor Eppes would know what to do, but he couldn't see the professor. Okay, then, what would the Professor say? Suddenly an idea caught on and Eli went with it. "If my math works-"

"We can't assume that!" Rush yelled desperately, releasing the boy and turning back to the board.

"I said 'if'! Then, if it works, it's not a-a-a power supply issue. It-it's the gate address!" Eli forced the words out of his mouth quickly, trying to keep up with his own mind, stumbling in places.

"We've known the first eight symbols for years. The ninth has to be the point of origin!"

"S-so," Eli continued, filtering in the new data. "What if we're not on the planet you're supposed to be dialing from?"

"This is where we are!" Rush shouted as if to point out the obvious.

"Okay, what if we are not supposed to be _here_!"

An idea started to form in Rush's head as they gazed at each other meaningfully.

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Telford flew his F-302 expertly, dodging other ships, missiles, and firing upon any enemy within view, even as he gazed around at the aerial battle. There was _too_ many of them. For every one he took out, two more seemed to take their place. "Icarus Base, Telford," he called into his radio. "We can't hold them back!"

Several gliders broke through the line and then they fired upon the entrance to the base. Young dived for cover from the explosions as the rail gun was hit and destroyed. People were screaming and even more were dead. This was a nightmare.

"Let's go," Colonel Young shouted at the remaining survivors as he pulled himself up from the ground, gesturing towards the entrance. "Go!"

Another officer's voice joined his over the sound of gunfire and explosions. "Fall further back! Go, go, go!"

The surviving military personal ran into the relative safety of the base, passing the Colonel. Young gazed one last time at the night sky, as he saw an F-302 get ripped to shreds before lighting up the sky in a fiery explosion. He grabbed an injured officer and dragged him towards the entrance, blood trailing after them.

"Sergeant Riley," he shouted into the radio, trying to be heard over the noise of battle. "Dial the Stargate to Earth."

"Take cover!" Another voice shouted as a damaged ship started to lose control. Young dived for the entrance, still dragging the injured man behind. The ship crashed into the spot they had just been, causing a collapse in the structure, cutting them off from the outside world. They were sealed in.

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Another explosion rocked the base, this one strong enough to bring everyone to their knees as the mountain started to buckle. "Chevron One locked," Riley's voice was calm, but his hands were trembling.

"Okay," Eli started, idea set and explanation ready. "Follow me; the-the symbols on the Stargate are constellations as seen from Earth. That's what you said."

Rush smiled at him, pleased that somebody had paid attention to him for once. "Yes, yes."

"Okay, so what if Earth is supposed to be the point of origin?"

"Chevron Two locked."

Rush frowned in thought. "The only viable power source was here, light years away."

"Chevron Three encoded."

"What if it doesn't matter," Eli continued, trying to ignore the people screaming around them. "Wha-what if it's the only combination that will work, like a code?"

"Chevron Three locked."

"A code," Rush's eyebrows rose upon the realization. It couldn't be that simple…could it?

"Yeah!" Eli shouted smiling at his idea.

"Chevron Four encoded."

Rush ran over to Riley, gesturing madly. "Stop the dialing sequence."

The Sergeant didn't even look at him, just continued staring at the screen. "I have my orders."

The doctor grabbed the younger man by the shoulders and bodily shoved him out of the chair. "Get out of the way. Get out of the way!" Riley looked up from his position upon the floor, shocked and a little worried the doctor had cracked. "We can't risk dialing Earth."

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"Come on," the Senator shouted at those around him. "Let's go."

Charlie was a little behind Chloe, rushing with the other survivors to the Stargate to evacuate. It was getting harder to see, smoke from the fires made them crouch down and move slower, while dust filled their lungs and choked them. Charlie's eyes watered, vision reduced greatly by the combination. He wished for Don.

Another explosion rocked the base, and Chloe lost her balance. The young professor grabbed her around the arm and yanked her back on her feet as the others around them screamed and panicked. He could see the Senator helping another man up behind them, and the crowd surged forward in desperation, separating Chloe from her father. Another shockwave…and Charlie watched fascinated for half a second as the ceiling spider webs in cracks. The numbers were beautiful. But they are all leading to one thing. Charlie grabbed Chloe's arm and dived as the whole corridor behind them collapsed.

Chloe got up slowly, the professors body half on her. She turned slowly, not understanding what she was seeing, until she does. "Dad…Dad?"

She stumbled towards the debris, but an arm around her waist pulled her back. "Chloe!" Lieutenant Scott yelled.

"Dad!" Chloe didn't hear him. "My father! There could still be people trapped on the other side!"

Charlie was standing now also, side aching from the impact with the floor. Others turn to look as well. "All right, let's go people. You need to move it to the Gate Room," most start to leave, some stay. Chloe and Charlie included. Scott grabbed his radio, still holding Chloe tightly. "This is Scott. I've got about a dozen or so people cut off from the Gate Room. Southeast Corridor."

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Greer ran down the increasingly less stable hall, a man thrown over his shoulder, wounded. "Oh my god," TJ mumbled as she came around the corner and met him. "What happened?"

"He was helping pull wounded back from the surface," Greer replied, easing the man down onto the floor. TJ crouched down to assist him.

"Come on," she whispered, supporting his head as they laid him on his back. "All right. I got you. I got you."

"Greer," Young's voice came from behind them as he approached. "We're pulling back."

"There people still out there," Greer replied, not insolent, but desperate.

"Listen," Everett replied, hand on Greer's arm to stop him. " _Hammond's_ already started beaming up anyone pinned down on the surface."

Greer shook his hand off, voice trembling as the lights flashed a dull yellow around them. "Somebody's gotta make sure."

Grabbing Ronald's tac vest, he pulled the younger man towards him. "Sergeant, listen to me. I got people cut off from the Gate Room. The base is shielded, which means the _Hammond_ can't help them. I need you _here_ , now!" Both hands on the tac vest now, Young yanked them so they were eye to eye. "Go," and then Greer was running as the Colonel shoved him off, a desperate look on his face.

Blood was everywhere on her clothes, her hands…her face. Tears ran down TJ's face as she tried to stop the bleeding from a man's carotid artery. Seconds later she shifts to CPR as the man lied still…so still. "Oh god," she cries, compressions on his chest as blood soaked her legs, through her pants, making them stick. "Dammit."

Young turned a corner, command on his lips before he saw the man lying still as death on the floor. "Oh my god. Is that Dr. Simms?"

"Stay with me, okay," TJ begged, voice shaking as her eyes blur with tears. She could barely see through them. "He was helping pull people back from the surface," she told Young, not taking her eyes of the gaping wound at his neck. "Simms, can you hear me?"

"TJ," Young crouched down next to her. "TJ"

"No!" She screamed, trying to get his heart started.

"Hey, Tamara," Everett tried again, voice soft. "Tamara," she finally looked up, sniffling as the tears left streaks through the dust and blood on her face. "Come on, We've gotta go."

She looked one last time at the lifeless body of Simms and screamed at the unfairness of it all.

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Nicholas' fingers darted across the keyboard as he finished putting in the address. Slowly the Stargate started to turn, smoke rising as each Chevron locked. Electricity dancing around the ring, Eli gazed upon it in awe. The room shook, this time not from an explosion, and then the wormhole erupted from the center. It took moments later to retreat back into the event horizon, and then it stabilized. "That…is…impressive."

Riley tore his eyes away as the computer beeped a panicky note. "Power's fluctuating at critical levels.

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There was an explosion on the Bridge of the _Hammond_. Carter pulled herself off the floor and made her way over to Marks' station as another explosion rocked the gigantic ship. "Colonel," Mark shouted. "I'm detecting a massive build-up of energy from the planet!"

"Recall our fighters," Sam ordered as she took in the data pouring over the screen. It could only mean one thing. "Radio Colonel Telford. He's got two minutes to get his people aboard before we jump to hyperspace."

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The Gate was active, the wormhole stable and there was over 50 evacuees, citizen and military alike, and not one made for the Gate. "What's everybody doing?" Young shouted as he came running into the room. "I ordered an evacuation!"

Eli yanked his eyes off of the impossibility before him and glanced at Rush before he hurried over to the Colonel's side. "He uh," Eli began hesitantly before he soldiered on. "He didn't dial Earth. It's the Ninth Chevron address."

"What?" Eli winced as Young shouted in anger and disbelief. The Colonel left the younger man dumbfounded as he marched up the ramp to meet Rush.

"The attack started a chain reaction in the planet's core," Rush supplied, not sounding the least contrite or worried. "There's no way of stopping that. And any blast could easily translate through an open wormhole. It's too dangerous to dial Earth."

His excuse was flimsy and they both knew it. "You could have dialed somewhere else," Young stated, eyes glaring in accusation. " _Anywhere_ else!"

"This could be our only chance," as if that made his excuse any better.

"Shut it down," Everett ordered, violence swimming in his eyes.

"We can't," Rush didn't sound smug, but it was close. "It's too late."

"Riley!" Young turned, asking for confirmation with the one word.

Hunter's fingers trembled as they flew across the keyboard. "System's not responding, sir."

Colonel Young turned back to the scientist, desperation coloring his words. "I need to get these people outta here."  
"We have a way out," that time it did sound smug.

"We don't know what's on the other side!" Young yelled. "Dammit, Rush!"

Eli approached both quarrelling adults slowly, afraid to get caught in the crossfire. "Can't be worse than here," eyes darted back and forth between the two men. "Can it?"

More explosions rocked the base, cutting off Everett's argument. Young ground his teeth and clenched his rifle tightly as he looked around. "Nobody move. Await further instructions."

And then he was gone.

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Park's brown eyes moved from one figure to the other as Greer paced the room in lazy circles. She sat next to Lieutenant Scott, a little closer than warranted, who was rather young and good looking, and completely out of his depth. Eli and Rush were standing side by side, reading off of the same console. Brody crouched in front of what could only be some sort of terminal, or interface.

She turned her gaze to the other scientist in the room, Professor Charles Eppes, who was studying another console not far off. Mathematical genius, he was the professor of applied mathematics at CalSci. He attended Princeton University at age thirteen, published his first mathematical treatise at the age of fourteen, and graduated shortly after his sixteenth birthday. Eppes had attained multiple PhD's, was a recipient of the Milton Prize and a nominee for the Fields Medal. He was a continuous consultant for the FBI, NSA, and rumored CIA as well, with a TS/SCI security clearance.

The scientist couldn't help but gaze at him with something akin to fascination. He was seven years younger than her, two years younger than his student. That made him the second youngest person on board, right after the Senator's daughter. It was astounding. She remembered reading about him in his dossier, as well as Eli's. Eppes' was a great deal larger than his student's, but a lot of it had been blacked out or redacted. Reading about him was one thing, but meeting the man was something else. The sterility of the file didn't prepare him for how _young_ he looked.

"What's that?" Rush's voice pulled her from her musings as Scott checked his weapon for the fourth time.

"Well," Eli started, moving further into the doctor's personal space, not the Rush seemed to notice. "It doesn't look like life support."

"Yes," Rush sighed, not annoyed, just tired. "I realize that," his hand hovered for a second before he pushed several buttons and a holographic screen appeared with a dull hum.

"Whoa," Eli breathed, stepping around the interface and closer to the screen.

"What are we looking at?" Scott questioned, awe in his voice, as he joined Eli.

"That's a star map," Rush said quietly, realization and resignation colored his tone.

Park moved up from behind Eli, Charlie following right after. "That's the Milky Way," she commented.

"I believe it's a…visual log of the ship's journey," Rush replied, the only one who hadn't moved towards the screen in fascination.

"So this is where we are now?" Eli questioned, finger pointing to the screen, but he was too enraptured to look away.

Rush stared at him momentarily before he replied. "No," he said, turning away as if he didn't want to view everyone's reactions. He turned back to the console and started to push more buttons. "That's where the ship originally embarked from."

Suddenly the screen started to pull away, a blue solid line traveling across the screen.

"Earth," Charlie mumbled quietly, realizing what that meant.

"It's leaving the galaxy," Park uttered, nearly emotionless.

"It did," Rush supplied, glancing up as the blue line went from one white point to another in a twisted connect the dots puzzle. "Long ago."

"That was Pegasus," Brody commented, distracted almost. He stood on the opposite side of the screen, shifting back and forth in nervousness.

"So, those points are more stars?" Scott questioned as the blue line gained speed, hitting one dot after the other.

"No," Charlie replied, hands on his hips and slouching in resignation as the numbers flew through his mind. A quiet beeping filled the room, each one for every dot. "They're galaxies," even before he finished the sentence, over a dozen beeps sounded in the background, coming faster each time.

Scott swallowed past the knot in his throat as he moved slowly over to the doctor. Rush had his hand on his chin, the other around his waist and was staring at the console with an unreadable expression. "Rush," Matt nearly whispered, devastation in his voice. "Where the hell are we?"

Rush paused, as if he didn't want to know or supply the answer. When he answered his voice was just as soft, and he refused to look away from the screen. "Several billion light years from home."

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Scott was covered in a fine layer of dust, hands aching and bleeding in spots as he tried to pry another rock loose. Professor Eppes, just as dirty, stood next to him, helping to clear the collapse. They could hear Chloe crying softly in the background. "Please," she begged, but to whom or what, Charlie didn't know.

"Scott," Young's voice echoed down the corridor before he came running up with another soldier close behind. "Stand clear."

Both Scott and Charlie turned to him, the Lieutenant following the orders immediately and stepped away from the collapse. Charlie hesitated momentarily before following him. Charlie watched as a man with the word 'Greer' printed on his uniform and blood staining down the side pulled several tan rectangular blocks out of his tac vest and began wiring them together. It was C-4.

"You could take down the rest of the roof with that!" Scott nearly yelled, huffing from the exertion. Charlie was panting hard beside him as well.

"Look," Colonel Young said to Scott. "We don't have time to argue. I need you to lead the evacuees through the Gate," he turned to the two civilians, "And I need you two to go with him.

"W-what?" Chloe stuttered, hands going to her hair in frustration. "No! I-I'm staying here until I know my father's okay," she argued, face scrunching up as she prepared to fight.

Young didn't reply, just turned towards Scott with a commanding tone. "Make sure everyone carries as much of the expedition supplies as they can."

Scott stared at him blankly for a second before he responded. "Why?"

"'Cause," Young replied, stepping closer to the younger man. "You're not going to Earth. Rush dialed the Ninth Chevron," he seemed to sigh that last part. "Go," Scott hesitated, not sure how to respond to that. "Go!" Young insisted, and the Lieutenant took hesitant steps backwards. He shared one last look with Chloe, and then he was sprinting down the hall.

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Shockwave after shockwave shook the Gate Room as the bombardment continued, raining pieces of cement and dirt down onto the heads of the evacuees. Scott ran into the room and up the ramp, stopping only when he stood directly in front of the event horizon. He sighed quietly to himself, shrugging the tension from his whole body as he prepared to venture into the unknown.

Turning to the survivors he spoke loudly, but clearly, as the sounds of explosions tried to drown him out. "Once I'm through," he started, gaining everyone's attention. "Follow one at a time on a three-count!"

Moving back towards the Gate, he glanced at the ring before bouncing in place. Seconds later he was running through the gate, and survivors started to follow him. The first several followed his instructions, counting to three before stepping through the event horizon, but as the room continued to crumble around them, people started to panic. They ran through the Gate, pushing and shoving other evacuees, until it was one continuous mass of bodies, disappearing into the unknown.

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"You good?" Young questioned Greer as the Sergeant placed the last of the explosives. "Okay, let's go," the Colonel guided Chloe away, while Greer led Charlie around the corner with a hand on his back, pushing lightly. "If you can hear me," Young shouted as he moved towards the collapse. "Stand back!"

Seconds later he joined the three further down the hall. Chloe crouched down, hands going covering her ears. Charlie stood next to her, one arm around her shoulder, the other over his head. The warm weight of Greer's hand was still on his back when the dark skinned man handed the Colonel the remote detonator.

The Colonel pressed a few buttons before turning to face the others. "Okay, get down," Young said as they all crouched to the floor. "Fire in the hole!"

Charlie didn't hear the lever being depressed, but he definitely heard the following explosion. Chloe screamed as dust and debris flew through the air. Moments later Greer was up and moving towards the collapse, Chloe and Charlie coughing as they followed.

"Dad?" She called, turning the corner. "Dad?"

Seconds pass, and then they can see someone making their way through the hole. A woman came first, coughing heavily. "Put your weight on me," Greer told her, as he helped her away from the collapse, handing her off to Colonel Young who moved her further down the hall.

"Keep calm, everybody," Young called. Another person comes through, Greer carrying most of his weight. Chloe leaned heavily on the wall, Charlie's hand on her elbow, as she scanned their faces.

"I got you," Greer told another survivor.

"Please," Chloe whispered desperately.

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The mass of evacuees surge towards the Gate, very little order in the chaos. "Everybody stay calm!" TJ shouted, trying to ensure everyone's safety, even as she was shoved along. "Don't push!"

Rush disappeared through the wormhole as a large section of the ceiling fell and landed on the crates of supplies next to the ramp. Someone screamed, another stumbled and fell, taking two more people down with him. Hands grab and yanked them up, shoving them through the Gate.

Eli stood a little further back, shuffling forward slowly. His eyes were fixated on the puddle of 'not' water, a look of trepidation stealing over his features. He took another half step forward, and then he was at the front. A moment's hesitation, he took a deep breath, and then plunged.

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"Dad!" Chloe yelled, as the Colonel helped the Senator through the hole. "Ah! Careful," her father gasped painfully as they cleared the collapse, leaning heavily to right as he clutched his side. "Careful."

"You're okay, sir?" Young questioned, still supporting most of the other man's weight.

The Senator gritted his teeth, wincing in pain as Chloe moved up to his other side. "Are you okay?"

The elder man turned towards the Colonel, "I'm the last one," he told him, before he moved off with his daughter, painfully standing up right. "I'm all right."

"Greer," the Colonel called as Charlie helped another survivor to her feet, throwing her arm over his shoulder as they jogged down the hall. "Go. I'm right behind you."

The Colonel turned around, facing away from the moving party, before he grabbed his radio. " _Hammond_ , this is Young, come in. _Hammond_ ," he tried again, "This is Young. Come in!"

No response.

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"Let's go, let's go, let's go," Greer called from the back of the line. "Come on people. Let's do it!" Grabbing gear, he hurried the last of the evacuees through. Chloe was several steps behind the professor, still assisting her dad.

Electricity was building up at alarming levels, and Charlie calculated that they had seconds left before the planet exploded. He had just enough time to grab one of the cases a soldier was reaching for, before he stepped through the Gate. It was a dazzling and terrifying experience.

Greer assisted the injured military personal up the ramp and through the event horizon, but his gaze was locked onto the form of his Commanding Officer. Colonel Young was rooting through the cases left behind, desperately looking for something.

"Sir!" Greer shouted, supporting an injured soldier who had shrapnel wounds on his left leg.

"Go!" Young commanded, not looking up from his search. He found the case he was looking for, shoving it into a black duffel bag as Greer and the injured man stepped through the Gate. Everett ran up the stairs and down the ramp, the base exploding behind him. Several yards from the Gate, the impact wave lifted him from the ground and propelled him through the wormhole.

The planet cracked, the crust exploding outwards as the core ripped the surface to shreds. Seconds later it exploded, taking three ha'taks with it. Icarus was no more.

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In the Pentagon, Walter stood over a screen, reading the report quickly as someone spoke softly in his headset. He nodded his head and then made his way over to a man he had worked with for over 12 years. "Sir," he called to General O'Neill. "We've got Colonel Carter, turning to the technician he commanded, "Onscreen."

Jack moved quickly to the screen, overtaking Walter's shorter strides. "General," Sam sighed as she saw him. "We barely got away. Planet was destroyed," her tone was sad, but she continued on. "We've managed to beam most of our people off the surface before jumping to hyperspace. We also believe that the enemy forces were destroyed," Carter paused as she let Jack take in the report. Moving towards the screen her voice quivered slightly. "A-any word on how they gained intel on our base?"

"No," Jack replied, an unreadable expression on his face. "What about casualties?"

"Twelve," Carter sighed. "Eighty-plus MIA. The bunker shielding technology prevented us from beaming out anyone inside," she paused. "How many people made it through the Gate to Earth?"

O'Neill shook his head, "None."

"None?" She sounded stunned. "Our-our sensors indicated that the Stargate was active for a full six minutes before the core went critical."

"Well, they didn't come through here."

The silence was deafening, before a shocked Carter stuttered out, "Then where'd they go?"


	2. Air Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Running out of air and time, the crew resort to drastic measures to stay alive and somebody has to die.

" _Murphy laughs at your so called perfect plans"_

**Air Part 2**

Senator Armstrong paced slowly back and forth in the Gate Room, trying to keep the cold out. Knowing they were on a dilapidated ship was not comforting, any moment the life-support could fail and the freezing death of space would seep through the walls and claim them. He pulled his mind away from the dark thoughts and instead chose to observe those around him.

He watched the military personnel sort through the supplies and hand out weapons and ammo. The civilians milled about around them, neither mingling with the soldiers, nor separating from them. "Senator," a female voice broke him out of his observations. "I'm Camile Wray. I believe as the highest ranking member of the International Oversight Advisory-"

"Wray," he cut her off while they shook hands. Her grip was surprisingly firm. "You're with human resources?"

"With the IOA," Camile defended, posture becoming stiff. "Yes."

"Don't worry," Armstrong said, comfortingly while he patted her arm in reassurance. "I'm going to get things organized."

"His vitals seem stable," Johansen's voice seemed loud in the sudden silence.

Moving away, he approached the rather young Lieutenant Scott, who was barely older than his daughter. "Do we have any idea how long the air will last if we don't get the life support fixed?"

Scott stopped walking when he realized how badly the Senator was panting. "No, sir. Dr. Rush and the others are working on that."

"That's not good enough, Lieutenant," Armstrong cut in quietly, glancing around to make sure no one was listening in. "I need answers."

Matt clenched his teeth in annoyance. "As soon as I have them, sir," Scott then addressed the rest of the evacuees. "Okay, listen up!" Immediately there was silence. "Everybody who is able, we are going to search this ship. Top to bottom. Teams of three," he paused turning in place before he spotted Greer who was counting weapons. "Weapons?"

Greer moved in close, nearly whispering in the other's ear. "Twenty-three…including handguns."

That wasn't good odds. "One per group?" Matt asked, voice just as low, while he removed his own glock and passed it over.

"Yeah," the Sergeant sighed, taking the proffered weapon and adding it to the pile.

"Flashlights," Scott continued, once again raising his voice to be heard. Behind the group Doctor Rush was crouched low, unzipping a duffel bag. "Radios-" inside was a metal case. "Only when necessary. Once those batteries are dead, they are dead. Regular check-ins with Doctor Rush in the control room _every_ ten minutes, and keep in mind as far as we know, this bucket is really freakin' old. There might be areas of damage where life-support is unstable," he paused looking at the group before him. "Look, be smart, okay? Don't touch anything that looks like it might be dangerous."

"How are we supposed to know what's dangerous?"

Scott looked over to the soldier who had asked the question. "Becker, right?" Kid looked young.

"Yes, sir. I work in the mess…I mean, I _did_ ," he shrugged.

"Well, don't touch, just look," Scott supplied before he moved over to a female officer. "You're, uh, you're James, right?"

"Yes, Lieutenant," she deadpanned, annoyed that they were acting like they hadn't know each other intimately for the last two months.

"You and Riley are with me."

Greer watched James nod her head while grimacing. "Subtle, man," he commented quietly, a grin forming. "Subtle."

Scott chose to ignore his friend and headed back to the Senator. Chloe stood just behind her father, arms wrapped around her midsection in a self-comforting gesture. "If it's okay with you, sir," he began speaking only loud enough for them to hear. "It might be best, considering your obvious skills, for you to hang back here, help keep the rest of these people calm."

Armstrong gave him a false smile as his daughter stepped closer. "Don't patronize me, son."

Scott took several steps back and replied sharply, "No, sir."

The Lieutenant walked away quickly, James and Riley following after. They passed Rush who was examining his broken glasses. Once they were gone, Rush reached down and grabbed the bag he had found the silver case in. It was the one that Young had brought with him. Quietly, he made his escape, only TJ noticed him, but she chose not to mention it as she had her hands full with the wounded.

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The hallways were quiet and gloomy, lit by yellow lights that seemed to only enhance the rust, decay, and grime on the walls and floor. Rush made a quick detour through the control room he had left the others in. Brody was examining the interface with his hand held device. Eli was standing in front of one console, pressing buttons that Rush desperately hoped was not randomly. Professor Eppes was currently absorbed in the other console, eyes darting across the screen, only moving to press a finger to the console. Park was moving from one point in the room to the next, a PADD in her hand.

"Is there any progress?" Rush asked, entering the room at a sedate pace.

Nobody seemed to notice him besides the girl and Park answered quickly when she noticed this. "Fortunately for us, the life support system activated automatically when we dialed the ship. Probably emergency reserves, but only in certain sections. The emergency reserves are gone."

"Life support's been breaking down section by section ever since," Brody cut in, and Rush moved over to him as he continued. "Resetting it doesn't help."

Nicholas sighed softly in annoyance. "I asked if there's any progress."

"Unless something changes," Park added, voice quivering as Rush looked at her. Charlie looked up from his screen and frowned at the man. Though he was of average height and had a lithe, willowy build, the man was intimidating like no other. "According to my readings, we only have about six to eight hours of breathable air left."

"Okay," Rush sighed the word, exasperation leaking into his tone. "Let me put this another way. Has anyone got any _good_ news?"

"I think," Eli started, voice light and a little distracted as he played with the console buttons. "I figured out the menu system," he chuckled lightly to himself and Charlie couldn't help but smile back at him. Trust Eli to find the best in any situation.

"Try to find a schematic or map," Rush told him, tone sounded less annoyed as he addressed the student.

"Yeah," Eli scoffed, still smiling. "Google Spaceship," Rush just rolled his eyes and turned to leave. "Hey, hey, hey," Eli said quieter, jogging after him. "I don't suppose you've got any food in that pack? I'm starving."

"No. Keep working."

"Well, where are you going?"

"To find a bathroom," Nicholas stated it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Charlie couldn't help but feel as if he was lying.

"Yeah," Eli sighed, smile dropping as he returned his attention to finding a map. "That would be good, too."

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Rush's boots echoed softly as his hurried pace took him down one hallway after another. Finally, when he felt he was far enough away to be left undisturbed, he settled himself in an empty room, closing and locking the door behind him.

It was brighter in the room, and far less creepy looking, as he sealed the long dark corridor from view. Throwing the bag onto the bed he removed the rather light silver case. Inside were five blue stones and some sort of platform.

Grabbing the platform, he set it on a desk gently and flipped a switch. The glass screen on top lit up brightly, showing a white grid pattern with five circles that barely intersected. Picking up a blue stone, he turned it in his hand for several moments before he took a deep breath, and carefully placed it in one of the circles.

Billions of light years away a guard stood watch as Doctor Lee read a dull report at his desk. Next to him sat a matching platform, lit, with a blue stone placed in a circle. Seconds later, Lee blinked, dropping the report with lax fingers, and looked around in confusion before his gaze settled on the security feed of himself, except it wasn't himself.

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Scott walked next to Second Lieutenant James as the shipped hummed strangely around them. Behind him, he could hear what was no doubt another vent going offline as it powered down. Sighing softly, he turned to the woman, eyes flashing briefly to Sergeant Riley who was further back with a flashlight.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm solid, Lieutenant," James cut in, glancing around them with and expression of faux courage. "I'm trained for this."

Scott turned his gaze to the hallway they were traversing, looking anywhere but her. Behind them, Riley eavesdropped shamelessly. "Look, I-I didn't mean to-"

"Look," James cut him off. "Not now," rolling her eyes back to the Sergeant who was with them, Scott took the hint and remained silent. They continued their explorations a little more awkward then when they started.

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Greer turned a corner, his 'team' right behind him. He leveled a gun down the hallway and gestured when it was clear. The two scientists trailed after him. Just his luck he was stuck with civilians. Franklin jogged up to him, gasping slightly from all the walking. The man was seriously unfit.

"How exactly do we know this ship is unoccupied?"

"Rush said the air came on just before we got here," Greer drawled in an almost bored tone.

"How about," Franklin paused as Greer stopped to examine a door. "Aliens that don't breathe air?" Greer turned to him, nodding his head in mock understanding. Franklin nodded back, far from calm as he mumbled a quiet, "Okay."

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Brody was typing away on his data pad that was connected to the Interface in the center of the room. Charlie and Eli stood side by side over a console, gazing at what could only be a map of the ship. "Rush," Scott's voice came from a radio in the corner. "This is Scott, come in?"

Brody continued with his data pad while Charlie moved the image along the screen. Eli seemed the only one to hear the transmission. "Rush, this is Scott, come in."

Eli looked between the two other men, both absorbed in their work, before he rolled his eyes and made his way over to the radio that was sitting on top of a bag. Picking it up, he fumbled around for a moment before figuring out how it worked. "Hello? This is Eli."

There was a slight pause before the Lieutenants voice returned. "Where's Rush?"

Eli spun in a circle, eyes darting around the room to double check for the man's absence. "Uh," he waved the radio around uncertainly before he tentatively answered, bluffing. "Bathroom, if he found it."

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Scott sighed loudly as James and Riley shifted next to him. The young Lieutenant had not known Rush long, but one characteristic of his was becoming blatantly obvious. The man had the worse sense of timing imaginable. "Uh, I'm at what looks like a bulkhead door," he started, turning to said door. "I was hoping Rush could open if for me."

There was another pause as Eli bounced in place. He glanced quickly to the Professor, but the smaller man seemed oblivious to all else around him. "Should I find him?"

"Uh, no," Scott replied moving over to the door Vanessa was examining. He tried bracing his arms and prying the doors apart, but they didn't even budge. Riley looked on, his emotions indecipherable. Scott grunted as he exerted all off his strength, before he glanced sideways at the unhelpful group member. "Give me a hand."

Riley gave him a perplexed look, but didn't budge. "What happened to being smart?"

The Lieutenant turned to him fully, exasperation and slight amusement coloring his tone. "This could be the engine room for all we know. We gotta at least open a few doors."

James was looking at him too now, and Riley rolled his eyes as his voice took a sarcastic edge to it. "Do we? Do we really?"

Nevertheless, he moved over to his Commanding Officer and proceeded to help him pry the doors apart. Next to them, Vanessa assisted, but the door barely budged.

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Beeping broke Charlie out of his trance as the terminal before him made the strange noise. Eli moved up next to him, looking over his shoulder in fascination. "Hang on," Eli murmured into the radio that Charlie hadn't even noticed before. As the words left his mouth, the beeping stopped and his student gestured wildly as he brought the radio back up. "No," he told the person on the other end. " _Keep_ doing what you're doing…"

The screen started to beep again as the map shifted and a small red rectangle began to flash brightly. "I think I found where you are," Eli's voice was pitched with an excited tone. "The door is flashing red."

"Can you open it from there," Charlie recognized Lieutenant Scott's voice as it came over the radio.

He watched as Eli gathered himself, voice taking on a sarcastic bite to it. "Red is usually bad, isn't it?"

"Maybe it means the door is stuck," the older man's voice had a slight southern drawl as he tried to persuade Eli. "Just try."

Eli hesitated for only a second before he moved closer to the console, Charlie stepped back to give him more room. "Okay," his whole demeanor was filled with trepidation, even so, he continued. "You should probably step back," he selected the door on the screen, fingers darting to several pale blue buttons.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Scott moved several feet away, Riley and James following his example. The middle of the door spun, making a mechanical whirring noise he was quickly getting used to. Seconds later, the door opened, and the air was pulled from his lungs in a gasp as the hall around them became a wind tunnel, pulling them towards the room.

The room before them was large and had a dome top made out of a fairly transparent material. Directly across from them, and several dozen feet up, there was a large gaping hole the size of a small house where part of the structure should have been. Beyond that, a pale orange force field flickered in and out of existence as it tried to cover the damaged area, but it was failing at a rapidly increasing rate.

Back pressed against the wall, James and Riley across from him, they watched as what little air they had left was sucked out into the vacuum of space.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Charlie stepped forward quickly as the console stated to flash red like a Christmas tree. Whole tunnels were highlighted in the 'danger' color. Around them all other noise was drowned out as the beeping noise that could only be a warning sounded in the cold room.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Eli shouted hands flying to his hair as chaos erupted. "Not good! Not good! More red!" Turning toward his teacher he gestured helplessly. "Wha—Uh…"

"Close it!" Scott's voice cried desperately over the radio, shouting to be heard over what sounded like rushing wind. "Close it now!"

Fingers flying over buttons, he paused only long enough to grab the radio to reply. "I'm trying!" Even in the heat of danger, he still was able to sound annoyed.

Charlie shifted closer, heart hammering in his chest as his mind danced from one equation to the next. Foreign words flashed like warning beacons across the screen in a language he only seen once before. They were from Eli's game…it was the language of the Ancients. It was no secret that languages were his kryptonite. He even still had problems with the English language, and his Ancient was rudimentary at best. He only leaned enough to solve the problem. Now, here was another problem, and he didn't have the luxury of time.

Eli's thicker fingers were flying over different areas of the screen while his other hand pushed button after useless button. The numbers were coming to Charlie quicker now as the adrenaline flooded his system, and his longer thinner fingers soon joined Eli's in a desperate attempt to seal off the room. Several seconds later and the noise stopped. Both Charlie and Eli watched fascinated as the red seemed to leech back into the circular room before disappearing all together.

There was a collective sigh of relief as everything became almost deathly still and silent. Charlie could feel his hands trembling as he attempted to lower his racing heart and labored breathing into something more natural. "Yeah," Scott's voice sounded over the forgotten radio next to the screen. "Okay, we established why that hatch was closed."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Even as the words left the Lieutenant, he could see Riley shaking his head and rolling his eyes in an I-told-you-so way. "Yeah," Eli's voice interrupted, sounding only slightly shaken up. A feeling of gratitude flooded the young Airman and he told himself to remember to thank the math student the next time he saw him. "A lot of others are closed for the same reason. We're only occupying a fraction of the ship right now. It goes on forever."

Scott listened with half an ear as he removed a piece of chalk from his vest and marked the door with a large white X. "But if there are damaged areas of the ship that aren't sealed, that could be our problem," Eli continued, sounding more calm then a few seconds ago.

It didn't take a math genius to see where that was going. They were hemorrhaging air, and if the size of that hole was any indication, they were in big trouble.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"Oh, hey," Eli spoke up, still a little out of sorts after the near death experience he almost created. Charlie glanced up to see Rush enter the room, his stride long and purposeful as if he was on a mission. "Good timing. We just found a…hey!"

Eli nearly shouted as the older man grabbed the radio, paying him not an iota of attention. Charlie stood by, watching the exchange with interest as Eli seemed to sigh in exasperation. "Really?" His student asked, but there was little to no bite in it.

Rush depressed to talk button, eyes not even glancing to the younger man. "This is Dr. Rush. Meet me at the Gate Room immediately," he paused before he nearly tossed the radio back to Eli. His eyes darted around the room, only briefly landing on the disgruntled math student. " Everyone."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Scott made his way quickly to the Gate Room. James and Riley were trailing close behind, weapons at the ready. Just outside the room he met up with Greer and his team. Together, they entered the room that was quickly filling to capacity once again as nearly a hundred bodies crowded into the closed space.

Rush stood off to the side and the Lieutenant moved over to him. "What's going on?"

Instead of answering his question directly, Rush addressed the entire group. Holding up a silver case, he spoke loudly enough for everyone in the room to hear. "In this case," Rush began, and silence quickly descended. "Are five Ancient communication stones. They work over vast distances in real time."

"You could talk to people on Earth," Senator Armstrong stated. He was sitting on a crate, dust and debris covering him, and he looked exhausted and in pain. His daughter sat near him, just as dirty with a blank expression. To her it felt like a dream, the reality of the situation had yet to really hit her.

"Yes," Rush replied, nodding his head slightly to the older gentleman. Murmuring broke out but the doctor continued on and the group once again fell silent. "You physically take control of an individual at the other end. I brought these with us in the event we ended up somewhere out of range of normal communication."

"So," Armstrong coughed lightly. "Let's use 'em."

Around them people began to agree loudly, looking from the doctor to the Senator. Charlie stood a ways back, Eli fidgeting next to him. The concept of the stones was fascinating to the mathematician and he found himself lost in numbers as equations started to come together for the possibilities of such an invention.

"I already have," Rush stated loudly.

"What? When?" Several people shouted as the group started to shift as tensions rose.

"Are they sending help?" Brody asked. From his position next to the doctor he was easily heard.

Rush paused, looking at all of the hopeful faces before he sighed. "No," shouting once again broke out and Rush had to raise his voice significantly to be overheard. "The only means of dialing this Gate from our galaxy was destroyed in the attack. We're cut off."

Pleads, prayers, and accusations started to be heard as people sought answers. Camile Wray scoffed loudly and rolled her eyes upwards to keep away the tears that were forming.

"I wanna use one of those stones now," Armstrong stated loudly, face turning red.

"I have spoken with General O'Neill," Rush continued as if he had not heard the other man.

"I am a United States Senator!"

Again Rush ignored him. "I explained our situation clearly. In light of my knowledge and experience, he has placed me in charge."

"He did _what_?" Armstrong shouted, disbelief clear in his voice as others around them murmured anxiously. There were several loud shouts of indignation as the news was absorbed. Scott glanced around the room nervously, one hand on his tac-vest, the other on his weapon. Around him, the other military personal were moving into positions most effective if a fight broke out.

"I have faith in our ability to repair this ship and to work together," the Senator shook his head slowly as Rush continued to placate the group. "But if we're to survive this, we need leadership and a clear chain of command."

From the back of the group, Eli scoffed loud enough to gain everyone's attention. "We only have a few hours of air left!" Charlie shifted uncomfortably next to him. His student was right, of course. He had done the math himself nearly an hour ago. They were running out of air quickly, and the fight for command could wait until a solution was found. If they all suffocated, what did it matter who was in charge?

The Senator pulled himself up angrily. Behind him, Chloe stood as well, placing a hand on her father's arm. "I wanna speak with the General myself."

"Senator, please," Rush tried to reason.

Scott didn't give him the chance. He advanced on the scientist quickly. " _Give_ it to him!"

Around them the crowd yelled in agreement. The fight that would have broken out was stalled as the Senator groaned in pain, his face crumpling in agony. He clutched his side as his knees grew week. Two soldiers caught him as gravity got the better of him, and they slowly lowered him to the floor.

"Dad?" Chloe rushed to her father's side, full of concern and panic. "Dad!"

Scott moved quickly to assist while shouting for TJ. Tamara pushed her way through the onlookers quickly and crouched onto the floor next to the older man. Leaning over him, she checked his pulse and air way. "Ok, he's still breathing," she told the group.

Pulling his shirt up to get a better reading of what was wrong revealed a large purple bruise that dominated the man's right side. "Oh my God!" Chloe's voice filled the sudden silence.

"I saw him taking some pills," TJ stated as Rush moved to the stairs to get a better view.

"Warfarin," Chloe supplied, voice trembling as fear started to take over. "For his heart."

"Blood thinners are the last thing he needs if he's bleeding internally. Um," TJ put her hand over her face, trying desperately to think of something…anything. Eli crouched down next to Chloe, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Please, _do_ something!"

"Look," Johansen shouted. She paused momentarily before she continued much gentler. "I told you - I'm just a medic."

"Everyone, please!" Rush interrupted, drawing attention away from the medical crisis. "There's no need for us all to congregate in the one place. Miss Johansen, please find adequate accommodation for the injured. And everyone else ..."

Camile stepped forward angrily, advancing on the older man. "No! I don't recognize your authority, Doctor Rush."

"We have found ..." Rush continued over her.

"As an I.O.A. representative ..."

"... quarters nearby much more comfortable."

"... I think you need to ..."

Rush's voice continued to get louder until he was able to drown her out. Charlie watched the play-by-play, fascinated with the interaction. "Please go there and stay there until you're asked to do something useful," he finished, looking directly at Camile as he did.

"Something _useful_?" A female scientist shouted, moving until she was right next to the IOA representative. Charlie had met her only briefly put he believed her name was Palmer.

"We do not _want_ to settle in! We want to get back, right?" Camile shouted, and behind her the others began to rally. The crowd stepped forward towards Rush and Charlie quickly moved so he was further away from what was quickly becoming a mob.

Volker pointed at Rush angrily. "We should be working on getting home!"

"I'm not sure if that's even possible," Rush's words were calm compared to the growing storm around him and Charlie admired him for that. He may not have really liked the guy, but he was steady under pressure.

"What? You haven't even tried!" Wray was now standing just a foot away from the stairs.

A Marine came up from behind her, looking just as angry. "Maybe you should actually _do_ something instead of standing around talking about being in charge."

"If that's even true!" Another cut it.

The mob began to shout angrily, but Scott's voice rose above all of theirs. "Everybody! Everyone calm down!" The crowd turned towards him, and he held his rifle up in clear view in case anyone got any ideas. "Now, the fact is: Colonel Young put _me_ in charge and I _expect_ all SG personnel to follow my orders. As for the rest of you," he paused, eyes sweeping the room, taking in all of the angry, desperate faces. "You get out of line, we will lock you down."

Silence descended upon the room, and Charlie glanced around quickly, taking in the entire group. He didn't like what he saw. Somehow, without him noticing, all of the military personnel had moved so they were forming a perimeter, with the civilians in the center. He had seen something similar when he was in El Salvador when the NSA had him contracted. Except it involved bigger guns and more civilians. It didn't end well, and Charlie still had nightmares about what he had seen.

"Now Doctor Rush," the Lieutenant continued, making his way over to the man. "Is right about a couple of things. First off, we all have to work together. And second of all, we don't all have to stay here, so let's move out."

Nobody moved from their position, some in shock, but most simply to afraid. "Go on, move," Scott gently encouraged, voice taking on a much lighter tone as he tried to ease the others into compliancy. "It's okay."

The crowd mumbled unhappily but did as he said. They started to disperse, leaving the room with only a few civilians and the majority of the military personnel. From his position slightly behind the Stargate, Charlie continued to watch.

Moving up next to Rush, Scott addressed him quietly. "I think we need you, so I've got your back for now, but if I were you I would find some way to dial that Gate back to Earth," they shared a look before Scott walked away. Rush blinked and then looked around the now nearly empty room before he sighed softly.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

In a storage room not far from the Gate, several military personnel and civilians were shifting through the last of the crates. Several crates were full of toilet paper and machines. But they hadn't been able to evacuate all of the supplies, and every crate that revealed to not be important were moved to the wall.

"Got some testing equipment over here," Sergeant Riley voice filled the silence that had descended up on the group. He picked up an item which then promptly fell apart into several pieces. He stared at for a moment before he added quietly, "Looks broken."

"We'll get back to that," Greer told him, as he paced the room, supervising.

Palmer walked over to the larger boxes on the far wall. They were metal and rusted over with age. They had already been on the ship before their arrival. "What about all these Ancient crates?"

"If it's not ours, don't touch it," Greer told her, raising a hand to as if to stall her from doing just that.

Dale Volker bent over another crate, prying open the lid with his one good arm. His other had been broken when he came through the Gate and now lay in a sling. "Did no-one think of labeling anything?"

As the conversation continued, Camile kept glancing at Greer with an indescribable look upon her face. "Every case has a bar code," Riley supplied.

"All right. Anyone find a bar code reader?" Volker asked.

"I guess that got left behind along with the food and water," Spencer supplied, barely masking the anger in his voice.

"Uh-uh," Greer interrupted, looking over at the man. He didn't miss the looks the IOA rep was sending him. "We got food."

"Yeah," Palmer replied from near the bulkhead door. "Protein bars and this powdered stuff."

"Look, everybody!" Volker shouted in sarcasm as he held up a sealed bag of seeds.

"Seeds?" Riley replied. "Volker, you've got to be kidding!"

"I've got a case of blank paper."

"Maybe we should start a suggestion box," Riley supplied, unhelpfully.

Greer stopped walking around the room and looked directly at Wray. "What are _you_ staring at?"

Camile looked around the room as if to confirm it was her that he was speaking to. She shifted uncomfortable for a moment before she turned to face him. "You were in detention."

Everyone stooped their search to look at the two as the room fell silent. "Yeah," Greer answered dismissively.

"For good reason."

"What did you _want_ him to do? Leave me there?" He asked, eyebrow raised.

Wray scoffed lightly, looking around the room before her eyes met the soldier's once more. "Of course not. I was just wondering what to do about it now."

"That's not up to you," he spoke quietly, threat clear in his voice.

Wray advanced a few steps, but quickly lost her courage and stopped. "We'll see."

Greer glared at her and cocked his head slightly before he started to move forward. He only got several steps before Riley intervened. "No-no," he stepped in front of him, but didn't touch the volatile man. "Don't do it, man."

Greer's eyes never left Camile's and he moved as if to go around the Sergeant, but the radio halted him. "Greer," Scott's voice came evenly over the comm unit. "I need you to check for any open bulkhead doors that lead to damaged parts of the ship. Rush'll direct you."

He looked directly at Wray before he answered. "Copy," his voice was even, calm almost. He gave one more significant glance at the small woman before he walked away. Riley sighed in relief as Camile glared at the soldier's back.

While everyone else was distracted with the drama, Spencer moved to the box holding the protein bars. Glancing around quickly to make sure no one was watching, he stuffed a handful of them into his vest and then continued to inventory their supplies.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Scott made his way quickly down the corridor, searching the ship as Rush guided him over the radio. "There should be an elevator directly ahead," the Scottish lilt came over the walkie-talkie.

"Copy that," Scott replied. Seconds later he found a door directly ahead and he jogged up to it. He paused momentarily before he pressed the illuminated button on the panel beside it. The central lock spun and the doors slid open with a whooshing noise. Inside revealed an elevator. He stepped inside, gun raised, and did a quick sweep in the confined space. To the left of the doors was a panel containing brightly lit blue buttons. Reaching for one, movement out of his peripheral vision stopped him.

A small round device floated past him just above eye level and continued down the corridor he had just left. Raising his rifle, he left the elevator in pursuit. Swinging around the corner, he watched as the ball floated down a blue lit hallway before turning down another corridor. Trotting to keep up, Rush's voice startled him momentarily.

"Are you there yet?"

Grabbing his radio, he continued to follow the strange device. "This is Scott. Radio silence, please."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Lieutenant Johansen sat at what could possibly be a desk as she stared at her medical supplies in thought. The lights in the room were too low to see effectively so she had a battery powered lantern on next to her. Professor Eppes had suggested that the lighting might not be a power issue, it could just be the 'night cycle', but even she knew he was just trying to cheer her up.

She hadn't had a chance to meet the Math Professor and his student before, and she was thoroughly surprised when she finally did. TJ hadn't thought that they would be so young, either of them. But Charlie, as he asked to be called, was four years her junior. Lost in thought as she was, she didn't notice that her patient had woken up.

"Hey," Colonel Young's drowsy voice interrupted her musings.

Turning to look at her once lover she smiled softly back at him. "Hey," TJ replied before she moved to sit on the bed next to his prone form.

"What's going on?"

"We almost lost you. You were thrown clear across the room."

"Whe…" Young groaned as he attempted to sit up. He barely got his head off the bed before TJ gently guided him back down again. He tried to resist, but couldn't seem to. "Where are we?"

Once he was lying down again, TJ answered him. "We're on a ship. It's Ancient. Rush says it's thousands of years old and we're pretty far off into the universe…" She trailed off, not sure how to finish.

Young sighed softly, voice cracking as he asked her, "What's he doing to get us home?"

She swallowed and licked her lips before answering. "He says he's working on it but we have bigger problems. The life support system isn't working properly. If we can't get it fixed, there's not much time," TJ paused and looked away before continuing. "You should also know that he used the communication stones to contact Earth and he said General O'Neill put him in charge."

"I don't _think_ so," Young replied, trying to sit up again. TJ placed her hand on his shoulder, stopping him from getting further. "I don't think s... oh!" He gasped, an expression of pain taking over his features.

"Sir, you shouldn't be trying to get up just yet, OK?"

Young laid back down slowly. "I don't think I have a choice, T.J. I can't feel my legs."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

The floating ball led Scott down one corridor after the other. Movement from his right startled him and he quickly aimed his gun at it, only to discover Eli at the other end of his rifle. "Oh, jeez!"

"Oh!" Eli shouted, jumping so he was blocked by part of the door he was behind. Afraid to get shot, he cautiously peeked his head back around.

The Lieutenant took a few tentative steps towards the floating ball and gestured to it with his gun. "What _is_ that thing?"

"Come here-" he beckoned, drawing Scott's attention into the room. "I'll show you."

Scott entered the room cautiously as Eli gestured him to a nearby console. Typing onto the small handheld device he was carrying, the console's screen beeps and Scott turns to it. On the screen was a video recording of a corridor. "It's a - it's a camera!"

"It's a _flying_ camera," Eli interrupted him. Calling it a camera was like calling the first edition of the Avengers a picture book. "I'm calling it a Kino - you know, after the Russian ..."

"Yeah, OK," Scott cut him off before the math student could begin what was no doubt a long winded explanation of something he could care less about.

"Well, I figure maybe we can use it to check out the damaged areas of the ship."

Glancing up at the civilian, Scott nods his head in agreement. "That's good…Where's it going now?"

"I don't know," Eli answered distracted. "It's just doing its thing, but there's lots more of them," he walked over to a device on the wall that looked to be some sort of dispensing unit. The Kino's inside indicated what exactly it dispensed. Eli grabbed one of them and tossed it gently in the air. It rose to eye level and then hovered there as if gravity had not effect on it.

Laughing in delight, he reached out and pushed it away. If floated to Scott and then stopped about a foot away. "Yeah," Scott supplied, looking at the flying camera ball warily. "It's cool."

"Yeah!" Eli agreed. He lowered his voice and asked conspiratorially, "Do you want one?"

Scott shook his head in astonishment and confusion. "It's not a gumball machine, Eli!"

Eli looked down at the device in his hand and murmured an okay back to him. Scott gave him a pointed look and Eli repeated the word louder.

"Okay, so you've figured out where they keep the Kino's. What _else_ have you figured out?"

Scott walked away without waiting for a reply and Eli just stood there for a moment. Glancing back at the Kino, he pushed a few buttons on the hand held device and then checked to make sure it was following him. Jogging after the soldier he stared at him. "Give me a break, man. This is my second spaceship - and my first was yesterday!"

"I know," Scott murmured back, relaxing a little as they walked side by side. "Icarus was my first SGC assignment after training. I haven't been at this much longer than you have."

"Huh!" Eli grunted looking at him with amusement almost. "Did they beam you out of your _classroom_?"

"No - you got me there!" He chuckled, the first smile graced his lips since they arrived on the ship.

"D'you have any food on you?"

"Nope."

"Tylenol?"

"Headache?" Scott asked.

"Huh – _yeah_!"

"…Me too…"

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

TJ pulled a blanket over the Colonel, tucking in the edges to make sure he stayed warm. "Neurapraxia is a temporary paralysis that can follow a concussive injury."

"But you don't know?" Young asked as TJ stood and made her way over to the desk.

"You'd need an M.R.I. and a qualified doctor who knows how to read it to know for sure if there's spinal damage. We don't have either. Hopefully it's just the nerves in shock. Best I can do is insist that you remain still."

Young looked at her gently, giving her a soft smile. "Your tour was over two weeks ago," she chuckled briefly, rolling her eyes. "You should be in some classroom in San Diego."

"Seattle," she corrected. "That's where my scholarship was."

"I'm sorry," he whispered, sounding truly apologetic.

"That part's not your fault."

Young swallowed before he changed the topic. "Tell Rush I wanna see him."

"Yes, sir," her voice broke over the words as she marched out of the room.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Eli had to jog every few steps to keep up with Matt's longer and faster stride. Minutes later they found themselves back in the Control Room where both Rush and Eppes were bent over their own consoles deep in thought. The sound of their boots must have drawn their attention and the Kino immediately caught Rush's eye.

Staring in fascination, he took several steps forward. "What's that?"

"Flying camera ball," Eli replied, nonchalantly. "I'm calling it a Kino."

"Don't ask!" Scott interrupted as he saw the question already forming on Professor Eppes mouth. The younger man just gave him a strange look, but he complied.

The sound of buttons being pushed filled the silence and the Kino floated closer to Rush so the man could examine in it. A look a fascination stole across his features and Charlie watched from behind the console in amusement. "Why, it's marvelous!"

"It comes with a remote. I thought we could use it to look around?" It was staged like a question, as if to seek approval or acceptance. Charlie didn't know which so he smiled softly at his student while Rush was thoroughly distracted by the floating camera ball. Even as Charlie watched the ball in fascination and a little trepidation, the math had already started to form in his mind and he forced himself to concentrate on the life support issue instead. Though the equations were fascinating, their air supply was a far more important problem.

Charlie nearly jumped as he felt someone move up from behind him. "What do you have?" Scott questioned and the CalSci Professor wondered when he had moved there.

Swallowing in nervousness, Charlie answered him. "It's not good, really."

Rush interrupted, making his way over to the two and pointing at the screen. "These processing nodes are scrubbers responsible for cleaning CO2 from the air here, here and here."

"They indicate malfunction," Charlie supplied, shifting so he didn't feel so boxed in. "Others are failing."

Nodding sadly, Scott turned away and grabbed his radio, activating it. "Greer, this is Scott. I'm heading for the Gate Room; meet me there."

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Greer walked quickly and slightly behind the Lieutenant, an expression of annoyance upon his face. He had just finished recounting his run in with the IOA Rep and just the reminder of it caused him anger. "Look, I'm just saying that she better stay out of my face."

"I'll remind her of your personal space issues next chance I get," Scott smiled at him. They broke apart as they reached the Gate Room.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"Doctor Rush," TJ announced loudly as she entered the Control Room. Rush was standing in front of the nearest console to the door, Professor Eppes at his side, looking over his shoulder. "Colonel Young wants to see you right away."

Charlie held up a hand to stall her and motioned for silence. Raising the walkie-talkie, Rush activated it and started speaking. "There should be a kind of grate covering the node."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Approaching the far wall in the Gate Room, Scott and Greer moved towards the grate that had to be the one Rush was describing. Several buttons ran along the front and Scott examined them before picking one and pushing it. The first one did nothing, so he moved to the top one. A mechanical whirring noise broke the silence and the grate shifted in, before moving up into the wall. Both he and Greer move away and they raised the weapons.

The scrubber inside disconnected and slid forward, pushing a muddy black sludge out of the chamber and onto the floor. The same sludge was covering the entire machine. Smoke was coming out and they could hear hissing like water hitting hot metal…or acid melting metal.

"What do you see?" Rush asked.

"A problem," Scott answered back, flashlight shining on the would be CO2 scrubber. "We see a _very_ big problem."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Senator Armstrong rested fitfully, hot from fever and chest pain. The feeling of a damp cloth running across his brow woke him with a start as the cold relieved the heat momentarily. At first everything he sees is blurred and it takes his eyes a moment to adjust. When they did, they met those of his daughter who was staring down at him. Her own vision was soon obstructed as tears started to build and she sniffled quietly.

"What happened?"

"You collapsed," Chloe answered, swallowing thickly. "We brought you here."

His gaze darted quickly around the room before settling once more on Chloe. "What's going on?"

His daughter shook her head softly. "I'm not sure. I've been here with you."

The Senator sighed softly before he groaned in pain. "I need to know what's happening, Chloe. This is important."

"Dad," the word sounded both disbelieving and worried. "I was worried about you," Armstrong moved his hand to her shoulder as she started to cry, choking back a sob. "I'm scared."

"One step at a time, honey," he told her, stroking her arm in a comforting gesture. "One step at a time," gasping in pain he clutched his chest as breathing got harder. "My pills…" reaching for the medicine on the nightstand.

"No, Daddy," Chloe grabs his hand, pulling it away from the medication. "You can't take any more of those. Your ribs are badly bruised. You will bleed internally."

The Senator smiles softly up at her, the irony not lost on him. "If I don't take those pills, a bruise is gonna be the least of my problems."

"I know," she gasped softly, tears running down her cheeks.

"Don't worry about me," he started, squeezing her hand tightly. "Go- find out what's going on out there."

"No," Chloe shook her head, sniffling again as she realized what her father was asking of her. "I wanna be here with you."

"And I want you here but, right now, I wanna know what's going on just a little bit more," each word was accompanied by a short gasp, as breathing deeply enough for a normal breath was far too painful. He watched as his daughter wiped her tears off quickly and bit her lip in indecision. He had tried to break her of that habit long ago, but now he found it endearing. "Okay, I'll be here when you get back."

"Okay," she whispered before she stood and left, but not before grabbing the bottle of pills and taking them with her. The Senator watched her leave and tried not to laugh at her actions as he spasmed in pain. She knew him so well.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"What's going on?" Vanessa asked as Franklin, a scientist, sealed the bulkhead door behind them. He made a cross on it as Greer stopped next to them.

"I don't know, man. The air filter's full of crap. Come on - they want us to keep looking."

James sighed before she nodded her head in the direction that Greer had started in. "Let's go."

"All right," Franklin answered, panting slightly as he jogged to keep up. The military personnel made him nervous, but he was also harboring a little of a crush for the female Lieutenant. "Okay."

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Chloe made her way down the corridors quickly, retracing her earlier steps as she tried to find the Gateroom. She got turned around twice, but eventually made it there. As she entered, she found a small gathering of what she was coming to associate as the leaders of the survivors gathered near a wall. They were standing over what looked like some sort of metal cylinder like object covered in a foul smelling black goo.

One of the older scientists, Brady, or Brody maybe, was crouched down, testing the clearly toxic material with some sort of measuring device. The tool was flashing numbers on its screen even as smoke rose from where the material was melting it.

"Alkaline," Brody said as the reader beeped at him.

The medic stood next to him, nodding sadly. "Everyone's heart rates are elevated; people are reporting headaches. It _has_ to be."

"What," Matt said, glancing over at Chloe as she shuffled in between TJ and Professor Eppes.

"The used-up residue of whatever magic compound the Ancients used to scrub CO2 from the air," Brody replied, glancing at all those present. Eli watched from his seated position on the stairs with a solemn expression.

Scott sighed, waving his lit torch around as exhaustion and annoyance swept into his voice. "So now we have _two_ big problems relating to the life support."

Charlie felt Rush brush up against him as the man shifted his weight. Normally such an action would have annoyed him if it was anyone but his brother who did that, but he was too tired and his head hurt too much to complain. Besides, the temperature was far from ideal and the Scotsman was giving off fairly warm body heat. "Our first priority must be to seal off any of the leaks. If we can manage that, then we can maybe buy ourselves a day or so before the build-up of CO2 kills us," the Highland lilt came out more pronounced as the doctor was just as obviously fatigued as he was.

"As it stands, how much time do we have?"

Rush winced lightly as Scott's voice rose in not quite fear, but something close to it. "I don't know," he supplied, rubbing his temple to ease the pain.

"A couple of hours, at most," Charlie supplied, gaze fixed on the scrubber. He was not ready to see the others reactions, wasn't even prepared for his.

"Huh!" Eli scoffed, voice going high with nerves. Everyone turned to the math student at the outburst, but Eli just gave a mocking representation of a smile. "Awesome!"

"Brody," Rush broke in, drawing everyone's attention back to the matter at hand. "There was some medical-grade soda lime in the supply manifest?"

"It never made it," Palmer supplied as she continued to ruffle through the duffle bag on the floor, looking for anything useful.

"It's a pity," Rush whispered, nearly sighing the words. Charlie watched disinterested as the older man reached into his vest pocket and withdrew the small black notebook that he had seen several times. The doctor pulled a number two pencil from the spine and crouched down in front of the scrubber. "Well," he started, poking the eraser end into the sludge, it immediately started to smoke as the acid ate through the wood. "In a ship this old, there's bound to be systems past their design life."

"OK," Scott sighed as he scrubbed a hand down his face. "So let's say we find the leaks. Can you fix _this_?"

Rush shook his head, moving the pencil around until he was able to life a glob of the stuff up to eye level to examine it closer. "I doubt this stuff can be cooked off," he supplied as the glob fell off the pencil which kept on smoldering. "Perhaps if there were stores of this substance in the clean form, or something else capable of CO2 sequestration - calcium carbonate, lithium hydroxide - then yes, _if_."

"OK, well, that's not gonna matter because you're gonna get the Gate dialed back to Earth before this becomes an issue, Rush."

Rush stood up slowly as Scott began speaking. He rubbed a hand across his brow before sighing in exasperation. "Lieutenant ..."

" _Right?_ "

Scott was desperate, even Charlie could tell that. What the man was asking for was nigh impossible. Rush would have better luck if he were to jump off a cliff, sprout wings and fly, then to get these people home before they ran out of air. The younger man admired Rush a little as the doctor kept his composure. Maybe he had been too hard on his judgment of him.

"That's the kind of thing you're taught to say in officer training, presumably for the benefit of those that don't know any better," and then Charlie remembered why he disliked the man.

There was several seconds in which silence and stillness descended upon the group. And then in the next Scott face twisted into something angry and he stormed across the room, stopping only inches away from Rush. The sudden move startled Charlie and he found himself shifting away so he wasn't within the soldier's field of vision.

He glared at the older man, before movement caught his eye and the Lieutenant turned and found all eyes on him. What caught his attention though was Chloe, the Senator's daughter. She lowered her head as their gazes met, and he could see her chin tremble as she tried desperately to hold back tears. He turned away, not willing to bear the sight and found Rush staring impassively back at him. Nothing seemed to faze the man, and Scott knew that this was not someone to trifle with. "Please?" He whispered softly, pleadingly…desperate.

The lines around Rush's eyes seemed to soften slightly as his voice lowered gently. "What makes you think I won't try?"

Charlie blinked at the two, heart still hammering from the fright the Lieutenant had given him. Confusion swam in his mind as he took in Rush's almost placid like nature. Charlie knew he had never been good with people, but this was getting just ridiculous. He couldn't seem to categorize half the people he had met today and Rush was number one on the list.

When his student and himself had been 'kidnapped' by the government on a secret, very classified mission, Charlie was dead set on hating the guy. After he stood alongside the man and watched as he seemed to treat Eli both as a colleague and student while they tried to solve the puzzle, he had felt admiration and amusement. He had almost throttled the guy when he found out that the Ninth Chevron had been dialed instead of Earth, but Rush's logic was sound and he couldn't fault him for that. Who knows what would have happened if the excess energy hadn't been used or bled off in long transit to the Ninth Chevron address as opposed to the _much_ shorter distance to Earth. That excess energy could have been well more than enough to rip the planet apart.

While on the ship, Charlie's view of the man kept skewing between admiration, almost like, and a very deep dislike. If he didn't know better, Charlie would have thought that Rush was bipolar or had multiple personalities. In any case, just thinking about it made his headache worse, so Charlie decided not to. Rush would just have to remain as the uncategorized outlier in his social interactions.

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Greer led Lieutenant James and Franklin into another room. There were several tables lined up with benches and a larger table at the end. "Looks like a mess," James said, venturing further into the room.

There were several devices upon counters and a few tables, but what they were for, she couldn't make heads or tails of. "Lots of stuff to put food on," Franklin supplied, wandering further towards the far wall.

She moved the adjacent wall where she saw what looked like a metal cupboard. It was empty inside. "But no food," James replied glancing over at Greer. He approached what looked like some sort of tap. Depressing a lever, nothing happened. Appears there was no water as well.

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Charlie stood over a console, eyes gazing in attention and fascination. Rush stood slightly next to and behind the younger man as he gave a quick and dirty lesson of the ancient language. When Rush had first heard the Professor he had been interested but skeptical of the mathematician's knowledge. After meeting him, Rush admitted two things. One: Charles Eppes was beyond brilliant. And two: he was way past insufferable.

He had gone to meet with the Professor during one of his lectures in hopes of enticing him in to the classified and lucrative operation at Icarus. Nicholas had been over confident in his own ability of coercion and believed that he was offering the deal of a lifetime. He barely even got to finish his very watered down, non-classified version of his explanation before we was given a thanks-but-no-thanks.

Rush remembered standing their dumbstruck by even the possibility of someone turning the project down and when he came out of his stupor, it was to a door closing on him. He had gone back to Icarus annoyed, confused, and feeling what could only be the blossoming of respect. Professor Eppes was not the man he had thought he would be.

The second time Dr. Rush had approached him, he had been more prepared. He came with a better argument, more information just cryptic enough to grab his attention, and an Air Force escort. Eppes had smiled kindly at him, but he could see the beginnings of aggravation pinching around his eyes. The Professor had been curious, Rush knew, but not curious enough. Both he and his escort were led to the door and told a simple, "Nope, not happening."

The third time, Rush had barely gotten a sentence out before he was literally kicked out of the man's office. He was told, in no polite terms, to "Get lost," and "Don't come back." After three attempts with the insufferable man, Nicholas had turned his gaze elsewhere, and imbedded the program into a game in the hopes that someone, _anyone_ , would crack it. It was just his luck that that someone was Eli Wallace, CalSci student under the tutelage of one Professor Charles Eppes. He almost laughed at the irony.

When his fourth attempt had worked, Rush had been surprised and surprisingly pleased. He had told himself that it was because of the promising young mind that would be under his guidance, but he knew deep down it was because he came out on top. He had won. As a child Nicholas had always been competitive, and he had never quite grown out of it. He had one upped the younger man, and he wasn't going to let that victory go to waste.

Rush stood by his first assessment of Eppes. The man was naïve, stubborn, and insufferable to boot. But he was a genius beyond compare. His knowledge in math far surpassed his own, and Rush felt a thrill at being able to work with someone with a mind like that…a mind like his. Even if the kid was aggravating.

Which was why, two hours into their confinement aboard the ship, Rush found himself teaching the younger male how to read more of the Ancient language then what he had programmed into the game. Charlie seemed to pick it up fairly quickly, but his mind worked differently than his. Where Rush saw rhythm and music in the language, Charlie saw equations and patterns. Where he saw possibilities, Charlie saw probabilities. Their minds worked alike and yet different at the same time.

Rush wished Eli was participating in his impromptu lesson, but the kid was staring in rapt fascination at the Kino footage and he couldn't pry him away even if he had a crowbar. Besides, they were working on the same problem, just going about it in different ways. Eppes and Rush were examining the map of the ship for damaged sections that were an immediate threat, while Wallace took a more hands on view with having the Kino's search.

Several minutes later, their lesson was interrupted as Eli found the same thing they did. "Greer," Eli voiced hurriedly, excitement in his tone. "I've found what looks like a shuttle."

"Looks like there are _two_ shuttles, attached to individual docking slips," Rush supplied from the console, moving the map along to get a better view. Beside him, Charlie was mumbling quietly to himself in what he could only assume was more equations.

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Ronald Greer led his make shift _team_ down the hallway, following instructions from Eli, till they caught up with the Kino. "We're all gonna die," Franklin, one of the scientists, mumbled quietly. But not quietly enough.

Greer rolled his eyes at the man, "Shut up, Franklin!"

"I'm just saying what everyone's gotta be thinking!"

"I said 'shut up' or else you're gonna be the first," he told the older man. The group reached the doorway that he assumed led to the shuttle. The bulkhead door was only half closed, a four foot gap from the floor made easy access to what lay beyond. "This the door?"

There was only a short pause before the young math student's voice came over the radio. "Yeah, yeah, that's it. Can you close it?"

Approaching the lit panel, he pressed the yellow button cautiously. He heard the slight ding, shifting gears, and a whirring noise, but the door didn't even budge. "It won't close."

There is a longer pause this time before he heard Eli once again. "We can't close it from here either. There's something wrong with the mechanism."

Greer turned around to find that James and Franklin have already ducked through the gap and entered the shuttle. He followed behind into the darker space. Surprisingly, it was Franklin who was in the lead. Greer didn't know the cowardly man had it in him. They all can hear a sound, like static electricity almost, crackling in and out, as they make their way to the front of the ship. The sound of whooshing air accompanied it.

A broken window revealed the source of the wind, and the orange shield flickering in and out solved the crackling sound. As Franklin made his way to the pilot chair, the shuttle lit up, casting out the darkness. Franklin gulped lightly, looking around before his gaze fixated on the window again. "I think I found the leak."

Greer kept to the back of the group as Lieutenant James and Dr. Franklin examined the rest of the shuttle. "There's another door on the back of the shuttle but there's no control," he spoke into the radio.

"Then maybe we can close it off locally," Rush answered his unasked question.

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The quiet beeping noise of buttons was becoming all too familiar, Charlie thought. Rush was sitting in the pilot's chair, fingers running over the small screen before him. Charlie was standing next to Franklin, examining the flickering shield in interest. Greer and James were near the end of the shuttle just observing. And Eli was looking under seats, in the overhead bins, behind the consoles…pretty much everywhere. Charlie wasn't sure if it was curiosity that led him to search, or the hope that he may actually find something. Either way, nobody moved to stop him.

"The shield's keeping the air inside. It's obviously not a hundred percent effective," Franklin told him, his near whisper carrying throughout the whole shuttle in the near silence.

"Probably wasn't designed to compensate for the amount of damage this ship has sustained," Rush supplied, eyes still riveted on the screen. Charlie was again reminded of the man's capabilities at multitasking.

"Is there a way of boosting it, just in the areas we need it?" Franklin asked quietly…hopefully.

"We haven't found a way yet. It seems to be operating at maximum capability," Eppes said in both annoyance and exhaustion.

Rush nearly sighed as he pressed another brightly lit button. The bulkhead doors sealed behind them and suddenly the air is too thin, and Charlie felt as if his very breath was being sucked out of him.

"Open the door!" Eli tried to shout, but there wasn't enough oxygen for it.

Rush doesn't panic, he never panics. But he still looked worried. All the same, it only took several more seconds before the door slid open once again, and they can all breathe. The older man looked solemn as they all gasp for breath, and Charlie suddenly knew why. They can't seal the doors from the outside, because it could only be done from within.

"Well," Eli coughed loudly. "That's not good."

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Tamara watched with a small smile as Colonel Young moved his feet up and down. It was slow, and clearly painful, but he was moving them. "That's very good, sir. It's a very good sign."

"Yeah," Everett mumbled, giving her a soft smile. "I don't have time for this, do I?"

"Two problems," TJ sighed, looking away from him as she explained the situation. "We're venting atmosphere from the damaged shuttle and even if we could seal it off, the life support system in this ship is past its expiration date. We'll build up CO2 to lethal levels within a day."

""That explains the headache."

She laughed softly at him. "You already had one."

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Senator Armstrong propped himself up onto his elbows slowly, reaching out a hand to comfort his daughter. "They'll find a way. That's what these people do."

"No," Chloe shook her head sadly. "Most of these people aren't even supposed to be here."

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"How did the ship get damaged?" Young asked, words slurring slightly.

"We don't know," TJ almost whispered, gazing away in thought. "It certainly looks like it's been through a battle - at least the parts we can access."

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"We're still cut off from most of the ship. It's huge," Chloe explained. Eyes dry from tears as an odd sense of calm took over.

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"They tried jamming something into the shuttle doorway to keep it open long enough to let the person inside get out," TJ continued, looking Everett in the eye as she tried to hide the fear in her voice.

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"But it ... it just opens again," Chloe bites back a noise of despair. "Some sort of safety mechanism like an elevator."

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"Rush says he can't override it," Johansen's eyes slide back to the floor.

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"How long do we have right now?" The Senator's question was gasped out as he tried to overcome the pain.

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"As it stands ..." TJ paused.

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"... Rush says if we don't get it closed," Chloe's voice broke slightly. We've got ..."

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"... just over an hour," the medic finished.

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Charlie, Rush, Eli, and Scott joined Greer's group in front of the broken bulkhead door. The air was still whistling out the window as they all tried desperately to think of something. Currently, they were watching the rotund scientist, Franklin, who was on his knees, tinkering inside the opened panel on the wall. He pulled his hand out, covered in the same black sludge as the CO2 scrubbers.

""Bad air is better than no air," Eli supplied, leaning heavily against the wall in defeat as Rush sighed quietly to himself.

"Guess a day's better than an hour," Scott's voice was low, but clearly heard.

Charlie felt Rush brush by him as he approached the entrance to the shuttle. He was gazing thoughtfully at the doors, a look of resignation upon his face. Charlie knew what he was thinking even before he voiced it. They all did. "Someone's gotta go in there and close this door."

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Eli glanced around the Control Room quickly, taking in the group that had found itself in charge of the 'expedition', for lack of a better word. Lieutenant Scott stood a ways off near Professor Eppes. Chloe was standing off to the side with TJ the medic, just observing. Rush was seated on the bench along the wall, face pinched and muscles strained as the tension in the room rose with every passing second.

Everyone was in various states of shock. The reality of their situation was finally hitting them. They were hours away from death, possibly less. And with each second that passed it was closer.

Pressing a few buttons, Eli turned to the Kino that was floating just above eye level. "My head is pounding, heartbeat has accelerated," he was talking quietly, but still loud enough for his voice to carry in the near silent room. "It's getting harder and harder to breathe ..." Eli paused, face scrunching up as Scott paced behind him. Dramatically, he continued, "As our very lives are being vented out into space."  
The Lieutenant stopped his pacing and angrily stomped over to the math student. "That is gonna get old very fast."

"This needs to be documented," Eli replied, not bothering to look in his direction.

Scott huffed angrily. "No-one's gonna see that!"

"How do you know?" Eli questioned, turning to him suddenly. The silence that followed was palpable. Everyone glanced around at each other, but seemed to fall short of actually _looking_. " _We_ made it here; someone else could too. If we die, maybe this can help them to find out what happened to us."

"Yeah, well, we're not dead yet," Rush supplied loudly, voice taking on a bitter edge to it.

Wallace clenched his jaw for a moment, eyes meeting those of Chloe, the first friend he made since being abducted by the military. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out and instead she returned her gaze to the floor. Several more seconds passed by before Eli turned back to the Kino. "I'm starting to have slightly blurred-"

" _Eli!"_ Scott shouted at him, cutting him off completely.

"What?" The student replied indignantly.

Charlie could see Scott grabbing a tight hold of his temper and refraining from continuing down that road. Everyone was at the wits end, and tempers were beginning to flare. Biting his lip, Scott changed topic hesitantly, bringing them back to more pressing matters. "So, how are we gonna decide who?"

"I assume we're not gonna get any volunteers," Rush sounded just as forlorn as he did sarcastic.

"What's another day going to buy us?" Chloe asked, moving further into the room until she was right there in front of him.

"Time…" he replied, trailing off to almost a sigh. "To find a way to survive," holding a hand out to Johansen he asked quietly, nearly whispering, "May I see the list?"

TJ walked over to him, handing him the list that had been compiled of everyone on board. Nearly a hundred souls and they were going to have to choose which ones lived and who died. Charlie was reminded of the story he was forced to read back in High School. It was called The Lottery. An entire community gathering, taking slips of paper, the family with the black dot forced to draw again. Whoever received it the second time was stoned to death. They never gave a reason, and no reason given would explain such an action. He had hated that story.

"I marked the names of anyone injured," Lieutenant Johansen supplied quietly, guilt lacing her tone even though she knew it was necessary.

Rush sighed unhappily as he started to go down the list, names and dossiers flashing out at him. "Right. We'll have to find out people's skills, background, experience-"

"It doesn't take any special skills to die from asphyxiation!" Scott yelled angrily back at him, morally and ethically offended that he had to even take part in it.

"Look," Rush replied while standing and moving to address the entire room. "What I'm saying is, it shouldn't be someone with potentially valuable knowledge, or abilities we might need to help us survive beyond this."

Charlie could see Eli giving a wide-eyed look at the Kino. Chloe uncoiled from her position, arms coming down from the self-hug gesture as a fire started within her. Charlie had never seen her so worked up before, and now he understood why she was in such a powerful position, and it was not just because she was the Senator's daughter. "What, are you really suggesting what I _think_?"

Matt started to advance on the scientist and Charlie began to move closer towards the hall just in case a fight did break out. "A lot of people on this ship already wanna kill _you_."

"I don't care."

"You can't ask someone to sacrifice themselves, period!" Chloe shouted at him as TJ shifted uncomfortably next to them.

"Politicians ask military personnel to sacrifice themselves for the good of others all the time," Rush interrupted. Matt shook his head in disbelief before he moved back to his position by the wall. "If someone doesn't go in there and close that door, we're all gonna die," he gave Chloe a pointed look before continuing. "Period."

The silence in the room stretched on before Rush turned and retook his seat. He once again went over the list and Charlie felt a tightness in his chest he hadn't felt before. They were seriously considering playing executioner, but they had _no_ choice. The young math professor felt sick.

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"Franklin is still working at the airlock controls locally but it doesn't look good, sir," Scott reported to the Colonel in what was quickly becoming his chambers.

TJ continued where he left off from her position sitting on the Colonel's bed. "Camile's explaining the situation to everyone on board."

"I'll do it," Everett's gruff voice broke the quiet in the room. TJ's eyes darted from his prone form to the Lieutenant's who was standing next to her.

"Sir?" Scott questioned, hoping desperately that he had misheard.

"This isn't the kind of thing I can ask somebody else to volunteer for."

Scott cut in, disbelief coloring his tone. "If we're gonna make it past this, we're gonna need you," he added the 'sir' almost as if an afterthought.

"I don't know about that," Young supplied with a scoff. "You're doing a pretty good job without me, Lieutenant."

"Yeah? Well, look at the mess we're in," his voice was raising, getting louder with each passing word as his chest tightened and the words tried to stick in his throat. "If that's not proof that we need you, then-"

"I'm not sure anyone should do it," TJ cut him off, eyes darting between the two as if unsure on whom to settle on. "I don't want someone sacrificing themselves for me. I say we figure this out together while we still have time, or we _all_ die trying."

"I want you to both listen to me," Young grunted out as he tried to swing his legs over the side of the bed. It took a lot more effort than it should have, and it left him gasping in pain when he finally succeeded. This needs to be done and I'm doin' it."

Struggling to sit up properly, Scott turned away from him, refusing to watch a man he respected do something so stupid. TJ rushed to his side to assist him, afraid that he would do more damage to his already failing body. After several seconds of pain filled agony, he was finally able to sit up at the side of his bed. "Look, sir, you can barely stand."

"Help me," he grunts out, grabbing her arm and using her to pull himself upright.

"Look," TJ continued, eyes starting to mist over as the reality of the situation started to set in. "The paralysis is temporary - you know that now."

"Help me."

"You _will_ recover," her voice was shaking now, along with her hands.

"Lieutenant," Colonel Young gasped out between clenched teeth. "I need your help."

Scott refused to look at him and instead chose to stare at the wall. "No, sir."

"I gave you an order!"

"I know," Scott replied finally turning to look at his commanding officer. Unable to stand any longer due to the pain, the Colonel fell back down onto the bed but managed to retain his seated position. "You can have me court martialed when we get home, but I am _not_ gonna help you kill yourself."

Everett began to retort, but the words died in his throat as a distraught and disgruntled Miss Armstrong ran into the room. "My father's not in his room."

"We'll find him," Matt promised before he turned back to the medic. Pointing to Colonel Young, his voice turned to steel. "He does not leave this room."

Scott and Chloe jogged down the halls, occasionally slowing down to a speed walk before they continued their frantic pace. "He can't have gotten far," he tried to reassure her.

"I told him what was going on," Chloe supplied as they picked up the pace even faster.

Grabbing his radio, they moved into an almost run as the situation started to fully unfold. "Greer, this is Scott, come in?" When no reply came he tried again, nearly shouting as they started to run. "Greer? Greer, do you read? Senator Armstrong is missing - he may be headed your way."

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Greer stood at the entrance to the shuttle, hands raised in a placating manner as he stood in front of the engineer. Slowly, he reached for his radio and activated it. "He's here."

Franklin turned around at Greer's voice and raised his own hands as the Senator aimed the handgun towards them. Senator Armstrong was leaning heavily on the wall, skin pale and sweating profusely. "He's got a gun."

Releasing the radio, he returned his hand to the universal surrender position as he stared down the desperate man before them. "I don't wanna shoot you. I don't think you wanna shoot me."

Stumbling towards the soldier the gun wavered only slightly. "Get out of the way."

"Just give me a little more time," Franklin pleaded desperately. "Let me try and fix this."

Gesturing towards the open panel, the Senator replied with a strained tone. "I don't have much."

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Charlie was working on the console quickly, fingers flying in desperation. He searched for a change, for any improvement, for anything, but nothing was forthcoming. Charlie grabbed the radio even as his student took over the console, trying to find a solution, refusing to give up.

"Franklin," he said while activating the two way communication device. "I'm not seeing any change on our end. Whatever you just tried, it's not working." The words tasted like ash in his mouth.

"The problem's obviously mechanical," the Highland lilt came from behind him.

"No, no," Eli pleaded, still working frantically at the controls. "We just need a little more time."

"Eli," Charlie nearly whispered, placing a hand on his student's shoulder.

"No!" Eli shouted, shrugging the hand off and returning to the screen.

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Franklin pulled his tools slowly from the panel, slumping against the wall as he gazed at the floor in defeat. Greer shifted to see him better and their eyes briefly met, but it was enough to convey the message. "You can't fix it."

The scientist just shook his head slowly. Breath strained, Senator Armstrong lowered the pistol as if his arm could no longer take the weight and gazed meaningfully at the Sergeant. "Tell me what to do."

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Chloe and Scott pulled short at the entrance of the shuttle, panting heavily from their sprint. They saw Greer first, just standing outside of the first doorway, gaze fixed on the small screen that showed the interior of the shuttled. Franklin was sitting in the corridor, and air of defeat about him. Senator Armstrong, though, was nowhere in sight.

It took Scott several seconds to realize what had happened, it took Chloe even less. "Dad! No, wait!" She pleaded as she ducked under the doorway and ran for the interior doors. But she was too late; the doors slid shut seconds before she could reach them. "Dad, no! No! No!" Banging on the doors, tugging at them, willing them to open, she begged.

The Senator could hear her, muffled though she was, but still he did not turn around. "Open the door! _Please_!" She screamed, turning to the scientist on the floor.

Anguished, Franklin turned from her, unwilling to see her grief. "I can't." The 'I won't, I'm sorry' was left unsaid.

Chloe turned back to the shuttle doors, scrapping and beating them until her nails bled and her knuckles bruised. " _Please_ open the door!"

Scott moved towards Greer, the look on his face was one of disbelief. "He was dead on his feet," was the only answer he got for his unasked question.

"Dad! No!"

The Senator whispered, "I love you," softly as the oxygen in the room dropped. The words were unheard but not unseen as Greer watched from the screen, refusing to look away from what he had allowed to happen.

"Please open the door!" Chloe screamed even as Scott wrapped an arm around her to pull her away from the windows. Turning, she grabbed his radio in desperation. "Eli! Charlie! Stop him!"

"There's nothing I can do from here," Charlie answered helplessly from the Control Room as Eli and Rush listen, equally as helpless.

"Help him! Open the door! Please!"

Scott pried her from the door as the last of the air inside the shuttle escaped to the vacuum of space. From the window they can see as the Senator slumped in his seat, dying as his lungs tried and failed to breathe. It took more effort than he thought possible to pull her from the death grip she had on the door and they collapsed on the floor. Chloe sobbed into his tac-vest, repeating the word 'No' like a mantra as Greer stood vigil in the hallway.

Seconds later, the sobbing trickles off and dies completely as a rage she had never felt before consumed her. Ripping herself from the Lieutenant's hold, she barreled down the hallway even as he called out to her and gave chase.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Rush glanced up and locked his solemn eyes onto to Eli's. "Well, at least he bought us a day."

He sounded so heartless, and Charlie wanted nothing more than to hurl the radio at him. That action though, was aborted before it could even completely form as Chloe raced into the room and hurtled herself into the scientist. Rush went flying over the bench and into the wall. Chloe wasn't finished though, and she started to hit and kick him, screaming the entire time.

Charlie rushed over to subdue her as Rush defended himself as best he could, but he didn't fight back. His hands slipped on her failing limbs, and he got elbowed viciously in the ribs, but he couldn't seem to pull her off of Rush. Just as he was about to take another hit, Scott ran in and grabbed her around the waist, lifting her completely off of the floor and away from the downed scientist.

"You! You did this!" Chloe screamed, struggling like a hellcat as Scott struggled to contain her. "You killed him! You killed all of us!"

"Chloe, stop!" Matt yelled as Eli watched in shock and Charlie rubbed at his tender ribs. "A little help here!"

TJ moved in quickly, grabbing Chloe around the front and blocking her view of Rush as she tried to soothe her. "Hey, hey, relax. Hey, Chloe."

"Get away from me!" She yelled, shoving TJ away and pulling herself free from Scott. "All of you!"

Charlie watched with trepidation as Rush stood and nervously approached her. He had never seen Rush nervous before, but after that display, even his older brother Don, would be hesitant. "M-m-miss Armstrong," her struggling ceased and she glared daggers at him. "You're in shock. Believe me, I understand. Everyone deals with tragedy in different ways. You're looking for someone to blame."

"I'm not _looking_ ," Chloe bit out savagely, her steps towards him halted as Johansen bodily blocked her.

Rush took a couple of halting paces back, but he still managed to hold his ground. "I'm sorry about your father. I truly am. He was a good man, and he certainly wouldn't have been my choice. But you must realize - none of this was my fault. I didn't create the situation that forced us here. There was no other way."

Chloe took a gasping breath before she seemed to sag into TJ, nearly passing out as the situation fully hit her. TJ helped her to the bench and set her down slowly before taking the spot next to her, stroking her arm in comfort. Chloe buried her head in her hands and sobbed as Rush squatted down before her.

"Miss Armstrong," Rush began again, softly. "I know you don't wanna hear this just now, but...but this ship...this ship could be the most important discovery mankind has made since the Stargate itself," beside her, TJ rolled her eyes in disbelief. Charlie shared her sentiment, having falsely assumed that Rush was going to say something at least a little more sympathetic. "You know, the Icarus Project was something your father truly believed in - enough to risk his career to support it."

Raising her head, Chloe glared at him through her tears. "What difference does it make if we all die?"

Rush paused as if unsure how to continue and Charlie wished he would stop talking all together. He only seemed to make the situation worse. Charlie himself had never been very good with people, but this just seemed so callous. "A number of people died during the attack on the base. Some of them I knew very well."

Bitterly, Chloe spit out words that were filled with acid. "I'm sure some had more value than others."

"As human beings," Rush continued, undeterred. "A _ll_ of them were invaluable. Look, my point is: I promise you I will do everything I can to make sure no-one gave their life in vain. No-one."

Standing, he gazed down at her hopefully. "Please give me a chance."

Raising her head, she looked at him for a moment before she also stood up. Eyes narrowed and full of hate, she walked towards him, moving to the side at the last second, Chloe left the room solemnly. Rush gazed at her back, the expression on his face was one of genuine hurt.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Camile looked around tiredly. The Storeroom was bustling with people who were sorting, tagging, and documenting what little supplies they had, and yet, even though it had been over several hours, they weren't even half done. As time went on, more and more people complained of headaches, shortness of breath, and dizziness. Now there were more people sitting then actually working, but Wray couldn't find it in herself to reprimand them let alone really care.

The steady thump-thump was what dragged her out of her thoughts and she turned to see Colonel Young walking with Greer towards her. He was limping badly, most of his weight supported by the rifle in which he was using as a makeshift cane. It couldn't have been comfortable, barely even practical, but Camile doubted that they had much else in which he could use.

"Colonel!" She exclaimed, surprised and pleased that he was up and about. His head injury had appeared gruesome and she thought that with all that blood, he couldn't have survived such a blow to the head.

Limping over to her, Young said in just a loud enough voice that she could hear, but no one else in the stock room could. "We've lost Senator Armstrong."

"Oh my God!" Camile nearly shouted, drawing the attention of several people, but a steady glare from Greer, hand resting on his rifle, had them turning quickly back to their tasks.

"He's bought us some time."

"To do what?" She asked, much quieter that time.

"Well, we're working on it. First up is trying to dial the Gate back home."

She was stunned silent for several seconds, before the pinched expression on his face had her blurting out, "Should you even be on your feet?"

"No," Greer cut in sharply, giving the Colonel a pointed look.

Young turned as if to chastise him, but didn't complete the action and instead ignored the outburst. "Well, I _am_ on my feet and right now we're trying to get home. Camile, I need your help. You know these people. I need you to spread the word, try to keep things as positive as you can."

"I can do that."

"Good."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Scott had been searching for Chloe in the explored areas of the ship, opening doors to private rooms one after the other before he just stopped in the middle of the hallway. It had suddenly hit him, and he knew exactly where she would be. And there she was, sitting on the floor of the observation room, in front of the huge windows that Rush had found earlier. She was gazing out to space, but with her back towards him, he had no idea what kind of state she was in, though he could guess.

He moved into the room, being neither loud nor quiet, as he sat down beside her, taking in the view that had enraptured him the first time he had been in this room. Though the situation was dire, and the most terrible thing had just happened, he couldn't help but find a sense of peace as the colors flew by and all of space was stretched out before them. He hoped Chloe was able to find the same sense of beauty and peace in it.

"I can't believe my dad has gone," Chloe broke the silence suddenly, still not taking her eyes off the window, and Scott turned towards her expectantly. "I watched him die, and I still just can't accept it."

Voice caught in his throat, Matt struggled for something to say. Nothing seemed appropriate enough, or right enough, or even just enough, to be able to convey how sorry he was. So he just went with his gut and hoped that it would help. "Tell me about him."

Chloe gave him a perplexed look, as if she couldn't reason out what he had said. "Why?"

"The man died so I could live. I'd like to know a little more about him," he urged.

She sniffled quietly before turning her gaze back to the windows. She wasn't strong enough to look at him if she was going to do this. "No matter how tired he was, or how long he'd worked, or what was going on in his life, he always had time to listen to me. I'd go on and on, but he never preached. He never told me what to do even though sometimes I wished he would. He would just listen, and then he would tell me that he loved me. The best part was, if I'd had a fight with my mom, he never took sides."

Scott smiled softly, humming in thought. He couldn't imagine loving somebody that much. A sudden realization hit Chloe, and her face fell as she started to cry again. "Oh God. My Mom. He was her whole life. She probably thinks we're both dead."

Matt took a second to gather his thoughts before he started speaking again, hoping for that perfect thing to say that would make it all better. "All I know is that he wanted you to go on."

"I know," Chloe replied tearfully.

They sat in silence for several more moments while the universe passed around them. Scott broke it with a sigh and spoke to her softly, as if afraid that she would brake if he breathed too loud. "I've gotta get back to the search. You gonna be OK?"

"I don't know."

"…Fair enough."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

The Control Room was nearly silent, the only noise was from the constant hum the ship gave off which was quickly turning into white noise, and the beeping from the consoles. Brody and Park were working over the same console; Brody with a PADD in his hand was double checking what he knew with what Lisa was doing. What they knew was not enough though as they weren't finding answers quickly enough.

Charlie was studying his screen with a single minded focus that Rush could never hope to achieve. Nicholas envied him that much, to be able to block out the entire world as his mind did marvelous things. Rush himself was unable to focus like that. Having grown up on the wrong side of Glasgow, the forgotten middle child of six children, the youngest in his class, and the smallest in school, Rush had been beaten and picked on mercilessly. Don't get him wrong, he gave just as good as he got, but when outnumbered and outmatched, there was only so much a boy could do.

The older he became, the worst it got until he had ended up in the hospital for the third time in one year, and he swore to get out. His body was a roadmap of long forgotten scars, and his dark past would not let him forget the world, lest he be taken unaware. Pulling himself from his thoughts, he sighed softly before Eli's prone form caught his ever shifting attention. "Eli?"

"What?" Wallace replied, lying down on the bench, eyes not leaving the ceiling. He had a strange apathetic look about him that Rush couldn't place.

"What are you doing?"

Sitting up slowly, Eli gave him a strange glare before he bit out his words. "I just watched a man die, OK?"

Rush continued to gaze at him for a moment before he turned back to his console, situation supposedly forgotten. Eli shook his head in disbelief, unbelieving that someone could be so cold. "Don't you even care?"

The raised question had Charlie glancing up from his console as the tension in the room rose rapidly. Rush swiveled his chair to face Eli, movements jerky as if angered by the question. "Of _course_ I do-" the doctor snapped, displaying the most emotion Charlie had ever heard in the man. "But I'm also trying to learn as much as I can, as quickly as I can. That is, in addition to running nine separate searches of the database in the hope of solving our life support issues."

Once again he turned back to the console as if to say that the conversation was over. "Right," Eli mumbled guiltily as he stood and made his way over to the older man. "Found anything?"

The question was a peace offering, one that Rush took. "Destiny."

The word had everyone in the room looking at him in confusion. Even Brody and Park stopped long enough to figure out the perplexity that was Rush's mind. "As in ours?" Eli questioned softly, moving so he could lean against Rush's console.

"The name of the ship, translated from Ancient," Rush continued, uncaring of the audience he now held. "I've also discovered that they were never here."

"I thought this was an Ancient ship," the question was blurted out of Charlie's mouth before he could sensor himself.

Rush deigned him with an amused sort of look before he answered. "It _is_ , but they sent it out unmanned, planning to use the Gate to get here when it was far enough out into the universe. But they probably learned to ascend before that time."

"Learned to _what_?" Charlie silently agreed with Eli's question.

"Ascension," Rush supplied unhelpfully. Eli just shook his head in confusion and Rush sighed quietly to himself before explaining. "It's a process whereby consciousness converts to energy and no longer requires physical form."

" _That_ wasn't in the video!"

Rush smiled at Eli for a moment, thoroughly amused. "Oh, there's more than one video," he let the silence drag on for several more minutes before he turned back to his console. "We should get back to work."

Eli pushed away from the console, moving towards his professor, before turning back. "Sorry," he mumbled, apologizing for his earlier assumptions, for being a distraction, for not knowing…for everything. Rush just nodded his head slowly in understanding and forgiveness.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Riley gazed at the screen in confusion before putting the Ancient words together. The answer was right there, in front of him the entire time. "Sir," he called out to Colonel Young as he and Greer were passing by. "I think I've got it. It wasn't even that hard to find - its right here in the dialing program."

"You sure?" The Colonel questioned.

"Yes. It's an eight symbol address."

Greer gave him a thoughtful look. "You mean you can dial this thing back to Earth?"

"There's no Point of Origin indicated but, still, there's only thirty-six symbols on this Gate. I'm assuming the ninth symbol represents some x-factor distance equation."

"Well, I don't care. Start dialing," Young said, cutting the kid off from his probably long winded equation.

"Sir, don't we wanna bring Doctor Rush in on this?"

"When you said this wasn't that hard to find?"

"No," Riley replied, unsure.

"Well, then, he probably already knows and didn't tell us."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Charlie was studying the PADD Brody had handed him as Eli took his seat at the console. The silence didn't last long, broken by Eli, as usual. "Who is this Lucian Alliance, anyway?"

Rush made a huffing scoff noise, as he pulled his attention from the screen. Charlie discreetly listened in, as he was also very curious. "Where did that come from?" The Scotsman asked.

Eli gave a halting shrug before replying. "I just want to know how to blame for this."

"They're a human coalition," Rush started slowly, as if gathering his thoughts. Charlie was 87.4329% positive that if anyone else had asked the question, Rush wouldn't deign to give them an answer. Nearly everyone had a soft spot for Eli, including the horrible boogey man, Nicholas Rush. "Made up from various Milky Way planets, formed in the power vacuum left behind when the Goa'uld were defeated. They're criminals mostly," he shrugged, turning back to the screen before him. A confused expression crossed his features as he finished his sentence almost as if it were an afterthought. "A street gang with starships."

"How did they find out about Icarus. Wasn't it supposed to be, like, double secret?" Eli questioned, unaware of Rush's shifting focus.

"I suspect there was a leak somewhere. Someone working on the inside," he answered, reading and replying at the same time. Charlie didn't really care for Rush all that much, but the man should be given a medal for his multitasking abilities. They were almost unnatural. "The legend surround the ninth chevron has been floating around our galaxy for some time now."

Eli pushed several buttons discreetly as Rush turned back to him to explain. Charlie could see the Kino activating from his position and he smiled softly at his student. Of course Wallace would want the answer on tape. He used to even record his professor's lectures.

"We found that it meant various things to different cultures," Rush continued, unaware that he was on camera, as it were. "Some said it was a key to the universe itself. And once unlocked you would gain untold power. Now, if the Lucian Alliance knew that we'd discovered the address and a means to dial, they'd want it."

"This ship," Eli scoffed as Rush again started to press buttons on his console, shifting his focus in and out of the conversation.

"No, no, not literally. It's more to with what it's doing," he stood and approached Eli as the student sat fascinated with Rush's impromptu lecture. "The information it's capable of gathering."

"If you know how to use it," Eli supplied.

Rush bent down to the packs at Eli's feet, picking up his little note pad. "Yeah."

"That's what you're after, isn't it?" Eli questioned as a sudden realization hit him and Charlie both. "That's why you risked everything to get here. You think this ship is going to make you all-powerful or something crazy like that?"

"Eli…"Rush almost whispered, moving so he was standing right in front of the younger man. His tone of voice and expression were completely sincere. "If I could find a way to send all these people home safely and then return with a properly skilled team to pursue this mission as intended, why wouldn't I want to do that?"

"I don't know," Eli replied shaking his head as Rush made his argument.

"Uh-huh," Rush answered, turning so he could point at the inconspicuous Kino. "Now turn that thing off."

Charlie barely held back the snort and the subsequent chuckle that would have followed. "You saw that?" Eli questioned as Rush turned his back and smile softly. Eli let his fingers hover over the controls to the Kino but he didn't actually push a button.

Seconds after Rush sat down, his console started to beep urgently and Charlie's attention returned to his own to find the problem. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no," Rush mumbled even as Charlie watched as the energy of the ship started to fluctuate and then drop rapidly.

"What?" Eli questioned urgently.

"Someone's dialing the Gate!"

Rush jumped from his chair and darted out of the room. There was a stillness for half a second before everyone moved to follow, Eli grabbing the Kino on the way. As they came into view of the Gateroom, they could see the Stargate moving.

"Colonel Young," Rush's voice echoed across the room as he nearly shouted. "You're up."

"Nice to see you too, Rush. I did order you to report to me."

"Yes," Rush replied as an afterthought. "But what are you doing?"

"We're trying to dial Earth."

"That would be a mistake." Rush's tone took a bite to it.

"Riley thinks he's found the address for home," Colonel Young sounded not quite exasperated, but he was getting there.

Rush scoffed at him. "His understanding of Ancient is marginal at best!"

"With respect, Doctor," Riley cut in as the Gate continued to dial behind them. "I know enough to recognize a reference to Earth."

"He says the address wasn't that hard to find, Rush," Young's voice took an accusatory tone to it. Eli's Kino was floating above them, panning so it could see all of them.

"No, no. This is a complete waste of power."

"We have the address back. All we need is the right Point of Origin," Scott sounded confident and sure. Charlie wasn't so much.

Young cut in. "And we've got thirty-six tries."

"We barely have enough power to operate the main systems!" Rush shouted, hands fisting in his hair in frustration. "This ship simply doesn't have the capability to dial Earth."

"You see," Everett replied, stepping forward so he was invading the Scotsman space. "That's news to me."

"He didn't tell me that either," Eli added helpfully.

"Well, I've only just learned myself..." Rush turned to point to Eli. "And you _know_ what I've been doing."

"Even if it doesn't work, the people aboard this ship need to see us at least try."

"So, what?" Rush turned back to Young. "You're going to drain what little power we have for the sake of morale? How ridiculous."

Nicholas' rant was ended prematurely as behind him the Gate stopped dialing and the illuminated chevrons went out. Before anyone could question it, the colors around them swirled and shimmered as the ship gave a shudder, exactly the same as what had happened when they first arrived. Seconds later, that was followed by the sound of engines shutting down, as if powering off.

The silence was palpable, broken, not by Eli, but by Lieutenant Scott. "What was that?"

Grabbing his radio, Young activated it. "Anyone near the observation deck?"

"Colonel," TJ's voice came over the radio, sounding winded. "It looks like we've dropped out of F.T.L."

"Because we were draining power?" Riley asked, worried that his actions caused the problem.

"No, no," Rush reassured him. "If I'm right, the Gate should begin to dial any moment."

As if obliging the doctor's will, the Gate lit up and started to spin again. When the first chevron locked, Scott turned to Rush in shock. "How did you know that?"

"The ship detected a Stargate on a planet within range that may have what we need."

Young stalked over to the scientist, standing shoulder to shoulder as the Gate stood before them. "What? Why the hell are there even Stargates out here?"

"The Ancients sent out a number of unmanned ships ahead of this one. They're programmed to gather data, resources, then manufacture Stargates and deposit them on habitable worlds. Any relevant information is relayed back here to help plot the course."

"You're telling me that the ship knows we're in trouble?" Young sounded skeptical, but Charlie wasn't so sure.

"Yes," Rush replied, pulling his gaze from the activating Gate, to the man beside him. "Because I _told_ it we were. Essentially we're flying on autopilot. This ship may have stopped when it was within range of a Stargate regardless of our need, but I have reason to believe…" he trailed off, turning back to the Gate just as the event horizon formed and the wormhole whooshed out at them, startling everyone.

"So, what we need is on the other side of that wormhole," Young no longer sounded aggressive.

"An educated guess? Yes."

Sighing loudly, he started to limp towards the Stargate. "There's one way to find out."

"Sir," Riley shouted. "You can't do that. We have no idea what's on the other side."

"We can use the Kino to find out," Eli declared loudly, using the remote control to send the Kino into the wormhole.

"I expect that's the purpose of this device," Rush added.

Almost immediately a nearby console beeped and Park moved so she could see the screen. "I'm getting readings over here."

"What have we got?" Young questioned turning so he was facing the rest of the room.

"Temperature, gravity, atmosphere composition, barometric pressure..."

Riley picked up where she trailed off. "...oxygen, nitrogen, very little CO2, extremely low humidity. Habitable, but just barely."

Seconds later, the Kino sent back a visual image, and the others crowded around the console as the view of a desert landscape with rolling dunes occupied the screen.

"Good enough," Rush replied, hopeful.

Brody pressed several buttons on the other console. "Looks like four other addresses came up here too," frowning, Rush walked over to him to take a look. "They could be other planets within range. Maybe we should think about dialing them up and..."

"No, no, no," Rush mumbled, not worried. "They're locked out. The ship chose this one, the Stargate is open. All we have to do is step through."

"What we _have_ to do is put a team together," Young's eyes met those of the scientist and Charlie felt like he was plopped into the middle of an adventure story.

"Doctor Rush," Brody said, pointing at the illuminated panel above the door. Everyone turned to look and it took Charlie only a few minutes to realize what it was. "Looks like our time might be limited," Rush supplied to those in the room who couldn't read Ancient.

"What is it?" Everett questioned.

It was Charlie who answered him. "It's a countdown. Just over twelve hours left."

"What happens then?"

"I suspect we jump back into F.T.L." Rush sounded very calm about it.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

The group gathered in the Control Room, more people being added as requested. Charlie stood next to Eli, who was taking another picture with his phone, even as his Kino recorded the proceedings.

"Palmer is a geologist - obviously she should go," Rush's voice cut through the chatter, and everyone soon quieted. "Franklin and Brody are the best of the rest of what we have."

"Thanks for the ringing endorsement!" Franklin staged whispered.

"He didn't even _mention_ me!" Volker shot back. He was of course, ignored.

"Franklin goes," Young cut in, stopping the argument before it could truly start. "The others stay. We're still gonna need good people working on the problem from this end."

Rush nodded in agreement. "I'd like to go," Eli's voice broke Charlie out of his thoughts and he felt an icy hand grip his heart.

"Really?" Young questioned as everyone turned to stare at him.

"If I can help, then..."

"Colonel Young, please," Rush cut in.

"What?" Eli snapped, affronted. "You don't think I can handle it? _He's_ going!" He said, pointing at Franklin.

"I've been off-world before!"

"You _have_ made a habit out of pulling our asses out of the fire," Young agreed. Turning, he gave a pointed look at Rush, but he was still addressing the college student. "Eli, you wanna go, you're going," Eli grinned at him as Young shifted focus. "The only one I'm questioning right now is _you_ , Doctor Rush."

Laughing in disbelief, Rush gave him a patronizing glare. "Well, besides Palmer, I'm the only one who knows what we're looking for. We have twelve hours to find what we need and then get back on the ship."

"You're sure you can't stop it?"

"No," Rush mumbled. "We're just along for the ride for now."

"Well, then wouldn't we all be better off on the planet?"

Smiling, Rush replied. "Well, that's another reason why I should go - someone to assess whether long-term survival there is even an option."

"Right. OK." Turning, he addressed the rest of the group. "I want everyone clear that Scott is in charge of this mission. Let's gear up, let's find whatever supplies we have, and move out."

As the others began to disperse, Charlie approached the Colonel, Scott hanging just out of hearing range. "Colonel," he began hesitant. "Eli is my responsibility."

"I'm aware of that, Professor," Young said, turning so he could look down at the smaller man. Professor Eppes was shorter than him by nearly five inches, and younger than he expected. Working closely with scientists was a given when with the Stargate Program, even more so on Icarus, he had seen his fair share of geniuses and prodigies, so he had been expecting another person with multiple PhD's and a holier-then-thou attitude. Well, he got the multiple PhD part right at least.

Though the Colonel was doing his best to appear non-threatening, voice calm and gaze steady, the young professor still looked almost cowed. Eppes seemed to take a calming breath and looked the Colonel in the eyes. "Wherever he goes, I go."

Everett wasn't sure where the man had gotten his balls, but he respected him for it. Eppes didn't flaunt the fact that he was smarter than everyone else in the room, he didn't act like he was God's gift to mankind. No, in fact the kid was downright uncaring. He knew that he was smarter, he wasn't annoyed that no one else thought like he did, made the connections he made. Eppes just accepted it and did his best to explain, while other, such as Rush, would have been annoyed or even affronted.

Young stared down at the math genius, watching as he tried not to squirm. If Young remembered correctly the CalSci Professor didn't even want to be a part of the Icarus Project at all. He wondered briefly what made him change his mind, and then he remembered: Wallace. Eli Wallace was his responsibility. "Alright, you can go too," Eppes didn't smile, but he did sag in relief.

With his victory achieved, Eppes beat a hasty retreat, and Scott finally approached him, looking nervous. "Sir, about Eli…"

"He volunteered."

"They're not trained for this."

"Just like a lot of people we've got on this ship. I'm gonna need to know what they're made of."

"He'll slow us down," Scott wasn't just talking about his weight.

"Well, if he does, you send him back to the Gate. Listen, if we're gonna make it - and I'm not just talking about the next few hours - we're gonna need everyone on board to step up," Scott nods his head in understanding, turning to leave. "Lieutenant…Keep an eye on Rush."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Charlie entered the room behind the group, dressed much as his student, with an extra unclaimed military camouflage uniform over his attire. Rush was buckling his pack on, choosing to go without the vest like Charlie, while Eli stood next to Lieutenant Scott at the head of the group. Scott was the only one wearing his standard back gear, making him stand out.

Eli smiled softly at Matt, putting his hat on backwards, completely against regulations, making the professor smile. "Think there could be dinosaurs?" He heard Eli ask as he took up his position next to Rush.

Scott turned to him and smiled. "Anything's possible," he answered. Another half second passed and they broke into peals of laughter. The tension in the group lifted as the chuckling echoed in the room. Scott turned to smile at the Colonel who was at the back of the group. "We'll be back, sir."

"Good luck," Everett replied, sounding a little solemn.

Scott paused when he reached the Gate before stepping through. Eli followed shortly after with Greer, Palmer, Franklin, and a Marine that Charlie didn't recognize. Charlie was the second to last to step through, Rush bringing up the rear. Rush stopped at the event horizon, turning to look back at the Colonel. Young nodded to him once and Nicholas gave him a slight smile before he turned and confidently entered the Stargate.


	3. Air Part Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They search for survival in a barren desert wasteland, but the clock is ticking. Can they find what they need in time before 'Destiny' leaves without them?

" _If God is watching us, the least we can do is be entertaining."_

**Air Part 3**

Sand shifted slowly as the wind danced between the dunes. The pale nearly colorless grains burned the eyes as the sun beat down heavily on the only living creatures in miles. The group walked slowly down the ramp, Lieutenant Scott leading them in his black BDU's. Glancing behind him, he took in the others who were all wearing the standard desert gear and he envied them briefly.

Grabbing his sunglasses, Matt quickly put them on as his eyes started to burn from the bright glare. He could hear someone approaching him from behind, the sand shifting as Eli stumbled in the unfamiliar terrain. "Hot," he mumbled, already beginning to sweat and feeling overheated in his black uniform.

Eli on the other hand was smiling broadly as he took in his second alien planet. "Cool!" He said while putting his own shades on as Matt smiled back at him. Charlie jogged slightly to catch up to the group that was forming a little ways away from the ramp. He could hear the Gate shutting down behind him as Rush began to make his own way over.

"Make sure we can dial back to the ship," Scott's voice rang out over the silence, easily taking command of the unit.

"Already on it," Franklin replied, grabbing the Kino controller that dueled as the Gate dial. Jeremy made his way back to the ramp and started to dial back as Rush joined Andrea Palmer kneeling in the sand.

"Looks like gypsum," Palmer supplied as Rush took a handful of the grains and let it run through his fingers. The texture was almost smooth and quite fine.

"That would be good," Rush mumbled back, eyes tracking the sand as it slipped through his fingers.

Scott made his way over to them, heat already making him uncomfortable. "Why?"

Palmer looked up at him, confused and a little annoyed. "We're looking for calcium carbonate," she replied shortly, tone barely covering her aggravation.

"Calcite," Rush cut in, translating easily in one word that he knew the soldier would understand. At first Charlie thought that he was being degrading, but the look on Matt's face made him realize that Rush wasn't trying to be mean, he was just helping in his own strange way. It was times like these that Charlie was reminded that Rush did in fact used to be a College Professor.

"Gypsum is calcium sulphate," Palmer continued. "Which is thirty-six percent calcium carbonate." Grabbing a glass flask from her pack, she shoveled a sample of the sand into it carefully. Rush uncapped his water as Eli hummed in thought and poured several inches of the liquid into the flask.

Swilling the water and sand around, Palmer smiled in satisfaction when she held it up for observation. "Huh! It dissolves!"

"Are you saying we can use this sand to fix the scrubbers?" Scott questioned, secretly interested in the impromptu science lesson.

"That would be convenient!" Eli mumbled beside him.

"No," Palmer answered shortly.

"Well," Rush interrupted. "It's a fair indication that the components may exist nearby."

"For the sake of portability and efficiency, I'm hoping to find high concentration granular limestone," Palmer continued over him, holding the flask up as Rush used a small torch to heat it from the bottom. "We are looking for the dried lake bed or salt water body all this sand came from."

Eli leaned over them. "It's a desert!" He stated in all seriousness, palms face down, while making a wide sweeping gesture with his hands.

Palmer gave him an annoyed look while replying in a haughty tone, "Lime is formed mostly from the remains of marine organisms."

"Oh!"

"Are you saying there was life here?" Scott cut in before they could start arguing.

"Not likely anything we've seen before."

The Gate started to dial up behind them, momentarily derailing the conversation. "Yeah," Palmer continued, ignoring the interruption. "The water may be gone now but this desert was formed by H2O evaporating on a playa floor causing gypsum to be deposited in a fine crystalline form called cellanite ..."

Already bored with the conversation that sounded almost as if he was back in high school chem class, Scott walked away, long strides swiftly carrying him up the nearest dune. Turning, Eli called after him. "Where you goin'?"

"Higher ground," Scott replied as Greer jogged after him. Eli face twisted into what could only be a pout and Charlie resisted the urge to chuckle.

Andrea dropped some red liquid in the flask and continued the swilling motion. It remained red. "That supposed to happen?" Eli asked, shuffling closer.

"If this sand is high enough in calcite concentration," Palmer answered. "The solution will absorb the acid."

"Right," Eli replied, tone dropping flat.

"The liquid will turn clear," Rush translated for him, almost as if in afterthought.

Eli gave him a look before turning back to the beaker. "It's not."

Before Rush could reply, the Gate activated behind them, making both Eli and Charlie jump from the event horizon bursting out. No matter how many times he saw that, Charlie didn't think he would ever get used to it.

"We're good!" Franklin called out.

On top of the nearest dune, Scott activated his radio while Greer kept lookout. "This is Scott. Unfortunately there's nothing useful in the immediate vicinity of the Gate."

The radio crackled for less than a second before the Colonel's voice came over the other end. "You have twelve hours, Lieutenant. Make 'em count."

"Copy that. We're movin' out!" Scott shouted to the group as the Gate deactivated. He could see the scientists gathering their equipment and turned to Greer as they took in the sight of the endless dunes before them. "Too bad we can't just use the sand. There certainly is enough of it."

Beside him, Ronald huffed a quiet sigh as he agreed silently with him.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Colonel Young limped slowly down the corridor, panting from the effort and too little oxygen. "James?" He asked, passing the Lieutenant in the bulkhead between the corridor and a convergence center leading to three other halls.

"Yes, sir," she replied tersely.

"I'm, uh…I'm looking for Chloe Armstrong."

"She's still in there. She hasn't come out," James gestured to the door, voice tight with strain and another barely hidden emotion.

"How is she?" The Colonel asked.

"How is _she_?" James parroted back, righteous anger coloring her words. "How 'bout asking how I'm doin'?" She took several hesitant steps forward, standing in a parade rest.

Everett turned towards her slowly. "Well, you're trained for this, Airman. Give me a…" he trailed off as James' face seemed to crumple and she swallowed thickly to keep the tears back. "She just watched her father die."

"My father may as well be dead to me too…'cause I'm stuck in some galaxy that only God knows about," she bit out somberly.

"Yeah…okay—"

"You know," she continued. "I was supposed to go back to Iraq again, but they said that this would be a better opportunity. We're all going to die out here!"

"Hey!" Everett sharply snapped at her. Approaching her slowly, he carefully thought out his next few words. "I want you to listen to me. I don't want to hear that kind of talk. Do you understand? 'Cause we're gonna work…gonna work this out."

She shook her head slowly. "Just letting you know how I'm doing, Colonel….since you asked."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Chloe sat on the side of the bed that her father was in not too long ago. Her head was supported by her hand as her whole body seemed to sag in weariness. Though her eyes were dry, they were rimmed red with the tears already spilt.

Colonel Young limped slowly through the open door, making his way into the room and around the bed to sit down beside her. Chloe glanced at him briefly before she continued her staring match with the floor. "I'm fine," she answered before he could even ask. Her tone was biting.

"No you're not," Everett replied quickly, sighing as he thought upon what to say. "Well, neither am I, but we…we're still alive because of what he did."

"Look," she interrupted, still refusing to look at him. "For what it's worth—"

"Well, it's worth a _lot_ , you know, and as long as we're still here, I…I promise you—"

"Colonel," Chloe turned to him for the first time since the conversation had started. "I've edited enough of my father's speeches to know what you're going to say."

"You don't have a _clue_ what I was going to say, because _I_ don't," Everett's words were sharp but his tone was soft. They looked at each other for a moment before Chloe finally glanced away, unable to meet his eyes. Her hands tightened in her grip as she prepared herself for words she was unsure if she wanted to hear. "We brought along an Ancient device…" Young continued after a moment of silence. "Communication stones. They allow us to—"

"Yeah, I _know_ what they are," Chloe told him, voice a little less hostile.

"Good," he continued. "Well, I'm about to use one of them to report to my superiors on Earth, tell them our situation."

Everett gave her a pointed look, willing her to fill in the blanks, waiting to see if she understood what it was that he was offering. It took a moment, but she turned away as she grasped the meaning behind the unsaid words. Her lips trembled softly trying to fight off the tears. "I wanna tell her myself."

He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder nodding softly before guiding her out of the room.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Colonel Telford was beginning to believe that one could in fact die of boredom as he sat in the uncomfortable desk chair, trying desperately to meditate. The communication stones rested on the table next to him. Doctor Mehta, a small woman of Pakistani descent walked over to him as he was rolling his head from side to side to get rid of the stiffness.

"You've been sitting here since Rush made contact. Let somebody else take a shift."

"I'm not leaving this chair. I've been on this project for the last six months and I'll be damned if I—"

He trailed off, looking very confused and disoriented. He tilted his head a few times, as if to get water out of his ears and Mehta approached him quickly. "Colonel?" She asked, worried.

Telford looked up at her, before looking down at his uniform and hands, seeming to inspect them. Turning, he glanced at the monitor, taking in the image of himself. "This-this is strange."

"Doctor Rush," Mehta asked, finally understanding that the communication stone had been activated. "Is that you?"

"No, it's Colonel Young. I need you to put me in a room with General O'Neill," Standing up slowly, he braced himself for the pain before realizing that there wasn't any. "I'm gonna need you, too."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"Sir!" TJ shouted as Colonel Telford in Young's body groaned from his position face down on floor. Kneeling over him, Johansen helped him roll over before propping him up. "Sir, I _told_ you not to get up," she sounded chastising.

"What did he do to himself?" Telford asked as he gritted his teeth in pain.

"He's got cracked ribs, more bruises than I can count and a concussion that resulted in neurapraxia."

"Well, that's just great!"

"Chloe?" TJ asked, looking at the woman on the other side of the room.

"Doctor Mehta," the person replied, voice taking on a curious accent.

"Can you help me, please?"

Together, they assisted Telford, pulling him to his feet as he groaned in pain, barely biting back the scream that was clawing at his throat.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"You know," General O'Neill began, approaching the woman who had been identified as Chloe Armstrong. "I had some of my favorite arguments with your father."

"Are you saying you won some?" She questioned, smiling softly.

O'Neill took a moment to think. "... Depends on who you ask," he gave her a sympathetic smile. "Listen," he continued after a second, tone turning more somber. "Major Green'll be escorting you to see your mother. Please give her my condolences."

"Thank you," Chloe replied, surprised when she found that she actually meant it. Turning, her eyes sought out those of the Colonel, looking for reassurance. She seemed to have found it because in the next second she was nodding her head to him and then she left with Green out of the room.

The General closed the door after them, barely resisting in slamming it. Striding back to his desk, he asked the one question that had been eating away at him the entire meeting. "So, how is it going out there, really?"

"I don't know what Rush has told you," Young didn't sound accusing, just tired. "But we may not have much time left. The ship's very old…it's falling apart."

"Fix it," O'Neill replied. As if it were that easy.

"We're trying. Even if we can get the life support working, we don't have much food and water."

"Then go get some," he sounded almost patronizing.

"We're not supposed to be there, sir," Young cut in. "These are the wrong people in the wrong place and, as a group, they're just not qualified."

"Oh, please!" O'Neill exclaimed. "I wasn't qualified to lead that first team through the Stargate—"

"I understand that, sir—"

"In the past dozen years or so, we've sent hundreds of teams through that thing," he paused, seeming to think for a second. He sighed before smiling ruefully. "I think the bottom line is: _none_ of us are qualified."

"I just think…" Young continued, voice becoming quiet and somber. "We're gonna get to a point very soon where everyone on board should get a chance to say goodbye."

O'Neill gazed down at his desk, eyes clenching shut tightly before he nodded slowly. "Understood."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Charlie gazed up at the sky, removing his sunglasses to wipe the sweat away from his eyes. The sky was greener than he was used too, looking almost like sea foam with the clouds. It would be quite pretty if it wasn't so damn hot. Franklin was panting harshly in front of him, a spare shirt wrapped around his head with a belt protecting him from the sun.

They young Professor had gone with just a hat like Eli, but as the sun burned his neck harshly he had wished that he had had the forethought like Franklin. Jeremy grabbed his canteen and chugged a good mouthful of water; from watching him, Charlie could safely assume he was down to less than the half, and they weren't even sure how far yet they still had to go.

"Save it," Greer's voice carried in the near silence.

"That's not very smart," Franklin panted harshly in between words. "In temperatures like these, the human body needs at least—"

"Walk, don't talk," Greer told him, his words easily interrupted Franklin's.

"Just FYI," Eli cut in, speeding up a little to be in the front group. "He's right about the whole human body and water thing—"

"Eli!" Scott shouted, turning to look behind him.

"Walk, don't ... I know, yeah," Eli caught up with him when the Lieutenant stopped at the top of the dune. His shoulders slumped as he took in the sight before them. Miles and miles of sand, the scenery never changing. "Oh, look! More sand!"

"This is pointless," Franklin bit out. "We should go back."

"We just got here," Charlie replied, throat scratchy from the dry air.

"I still think we should be checking out the other planets in range of the ship," Franklin's words were breathy as he tried to breathe around them.

"I still think you're wrong," Rush replied, sounding almost bored. "The solution's here." He took a drink from his water bottle, also under half full. Unlike Franklin though, his water had been used for testing the samples.

Scott sighed softly before he started to walk again. From his position next to him, Charlie could hear Eli whimper plaintively before the rest of the team continued onwards.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"I know," it was no surprise when it was Eli who broke the hours of silence. "It was a mirage, but when we were walking over that last dune, I thought I saw the Statue of Liberty sticking half out of the sand, just for a second there! I was all ready to yell, 'Damn you!'" Dropping to the ground he mimicked pounding his fist into the sand. "Damn you all to hell!"

Charlie continued to walk past him with the rest of the group while he was doing is very poor impersonation of Charlton Heston. Everyone seemed content on pretty much ignoring him and he looked around indignantly. "Oh, come on, that was funny!"

" _Was_ it?" Rush indulged him.

Eli trotted to catch up with the Scotsman. "Because it would mean we were really on Earth, but in the future, and the apes had taken over ... and then buried the Statue of Liberty for some reason."

"Eli ... have a drink." Clearly Rush thought that he was going mad from dehydration. What the Doctor didn't know was that Eli was always like that.

"Greer, hold up!" Scott shouted. When it appeared that Greer hadn't heard him he tried again. "Hold up!"

Stopping, Greer turned and wondered back as the rest of the team converged around the Lieutenant. "This isn't gonna work."

"Not if we keep stopping," Greer supplied almost cheekily.

"I'm saying we need to split up," Scott almost smiled.

"Fine with me."

"I agree," Rush cut in. "Franklin, you should come with me—"

"Nah. No-no-no," Scott cut him off. "You're with me and Greer," pointing to his left he continued. "The sun's been moving that way. We'll call it west. Eli, Franklin, Palmer and Curtis, you head that way. Eppes, you're with me."

"We'll test every twenty minutes or so," Palmer supplied.

Nodding to her, Scott continued his plan. "After two hours, you head south-east. That should take you back in the direction of the Gate."

"Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa, wait a second!" Eli interrupted, waving his hands around and laughing nervously. "Do we really think that splitting up is the best idea?"

"I say we head straight back," Franklin cut in. Charlie wasn't even sure why he agreed to come if he was dead set on leaving.

"There's no point in crossing over the same territory we've just crossed," Charlie replied, slightly annoyed.

" _Or_ we could just stick together." Eli mentioned. Exasperated, Scott walked quickly over to him and the two of them walked a little away from the rest of the group. It would have made Charlie nervous if he didn't know that Matt was actually quite fond of the overweight math student. "Look, Matt, I'm sorry. I just have this really, _really_ sick feeling that-that you're gonna go that way," his hand waved in the direction indicated before his tone turned dark. "And we're gonna go _this_ way—"

"Eli, I need someone that I can trust to lead the second team, OK? That is _you_. Curtis is a good soldier…he's a tough guy. He's not gonna let anything happen to you."

Smiling bitterly, Eli filled in the blanks. "Truth is, I'm slowing you down and you wanna get rid of me."

"I'm doing what I think will best accomplish this mission," Scott's tone was harsh but he still let Eli know that he wasn't angry with his body language. "You _asked_ to come. I'm _telling_ you how you can help me. Now suck it up."

Nodding guiltily, Eli looked away before replying. "Yeah, OK," Scott patted his arm before Eli turned back to his new team. Whirling his arm above his head, he pointed them in the direction he was against going just minutes before. "OK, guys. We're goin' this way. Move out!"

"Eli," Charlie stopped him before he could get far.

"I know, Professor," Eli replied to the unasked worry. "We'll be fine."

As the second team started to move away Scott called after him. "Radio if you find the lake bed…we'll double back."

"When you see the Statue of Liberty, you know what to say, right?"

In his own weird way Eli was telling them to be safe. Surprisingly Charlie wasn't the only one to understand that as Matt yelled, "Right!" back at him. Turning to head in the other direction, he lowered his voice so he wouldn't be overheard by any other than Greer. "Now we can make some time."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Chloe couldn't tear her eyes away from the review mirror. It wasn't her, the reflection, it wasn't hers. Though her mind was in another's body, she still could feel _Destiny's_ walls trapping her in. The car pulled up to a house and it took a moment for Chloe to realize that the house belonged to her parents.

She took a moment to gather herself before she stepped out of the non-descript black government issued SUV. She had barely closed the door before a woman came barreling out of the house and down the driveway. Her mother stopped short and Chloe approached her slowly, suddenly nervous, scared, and terribly unprepared.

"I know I look different, and I sound different, but it's _me_ ," Chloe told her, wanting desperately to be comforted, but afraid of the reaction she would receive.

Sometime later, in the drawing room, Chloe was sitting upon the couch while her mother poured herself another glass of scotch. It was her third in just as many minutes. "Mom, please. I have something to tell you."

Mrs. Armstrong continued to take a long pull from her glass and Chloe stood up in indignation. "Mom! _Stop!_ "

Nearly choking on her drink, Mrs. Armstrong finally put the glass down, while covering her tear stained face with her hand. "I'm sorry. It's just..." she paused, turning as if too look but couldn't bare the sight of the woman that her daughter's mind inhabited. "The thought that you're actually on some ship so far away. I can't even imagine."

"Mom..." Chloe whispered, voice breaking.

"Just tell me you're coming home," her mother gasped, pleading, begging. "Please, just…"

"I don't know," Chloe answered, fighting back the tears and failing as the fell from her eyes…the eyes that weren't hers. Her mother sobbed, hands trembling as she grabbed the glass and drained the last of the drink. "Mom, _please_!"

She lowered the tumbler, almost chipping the crystal as it slammed onto the table. "The ship is old and damaged," Chloe continued, sniffling as the tears continued to come unbidden. "We were losing air and somebody had to..."

Her mother walked away leaning against the doorjamb afraid to look at her not-daughter. "He's dead. He's dead, isn't he?" Chloe didn't answer, she didn't have too. Her mom crumbled into herself, sobbing as her legs gave out and she fell to the floor. Chloe ran to her, embracing her, but she could offer little comfort.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"Where _is_ everyone?" Doctor Mehta questioned as TJ escorted her and the struggling Colonel Telford through the ship. Telford was limping heavily in Young's body, but he refused to stop.

"Able bodies are searching the ship for anything that might have CO2 sequestration properties, and the rest are in crew quarters," TJ supplied as they entered the Gate room. The Stargate powered down just as they entered and the loud steam vents filled the silence before shutting off a few seconds later.

Brody looked up at the approaching group, confused as TJ came in followed by Colonel Young and the Senator's daughter. "Colonel," Brody started. Having spent the last three years around military groups he knew what to expect. "We were able to dial out to the planet again."

"Colonel Young and Chloe are using the communication stones," TJ replied before Telford could get a word in. "This is Colonel Telford, Doctor Mehta."

Brody nodded to them nervously, unsure of what to do exactly since there really wasn't a proper chain of command without Young. "Uh, right, OK."

"Did you make radio contact with the off world team?" Telford asked, leaning heavily on the back of the control panel.

"Uh, yes. Nothing to report yet. Uh, they split up."

"How much time before the ship jumps back to FTL?" Mehta asked while looking around with an indescribable expression.

"Roughly nine hours," Park supplied from her position on the other console.

"All right," Telford sighed, checking his watch and gearing himself to take command of the group of unqualified personnel. "Dial out every twenty minutes. Maintain regular contact."

"We do have power issues to be aware of," Park cut in, a little miffed at the Colonel. "Dialing the Gate is a significant drain on what seems to be limited resources at this point."

"The away mission is priority one right now." Whatever else he was going to say got swallowed up as he grimaced in pain.

"Sir," TJ cut in sharply, moving over to him quickly.

"I'm fine," he answered the unasked question. Everyone around them was shifting as the tension in the room continued to rise.

Mehta moved over to the other side of the console, not quite pushing Brody out of the way but very nearly. Brody, for his part, didn't as much as move an inch. "I understand that there are other Stargates in range."

"Four other addresses came up in the system but we seem to be locked out from here," Brody supplied.

"Well, have you tried working around it?" She sounded patronizing.

"Doctor Rush didn't think that was a good idea." Park told her, successfully keeping the anger out of her tone.

"I think it makes sense to know what our options are, so do what you can," Telford told them, sounding annoyed even through the evident pain.

"There has to be a good reason why these addresses are being disqualified," Brody didn't quite shout.

"If I wasn't being clear, I was giving you an order. If there are good reasons, find out exactly what they are," he turned to TJ. "Let's keep moving. I wanna see more."

TJ trailed uncertainly after him as he left the Gate room. "You should rest."

"Lieutenant..."

"Sir," Johansen bit out, sounding frustrated. Her hands were fisted at her sides as the bullheaded Telford continued to ignore her medical suggestion. "Colonel Young's body needs time to recover."

Telford pulled up short, stopping just outside the room. "Give me something for the pain."

"The body feels pain for a reason. I would rather not mask it." Though they were speaking quietly, the entire room could clearly make out their conversation. Brody and Park shared a look when Doctor Mehta wasn't looking.

"Just do it, Lieutenant. From the sound of things, you need my help here," Telford told her, stumbling away while he clutched an arm around his sore ribs. TJ couldn't have resisted rolling her eyes even if she had truly tried.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Charlie kneeled next to Rush as the doctor poured the red liquid into the sand. Sighing loudly, Rush took a moment to just breathe as the sand dune shaded them from the harsh sun. Charlie himself was red from sunburn, curls sticking uncomfortably to his face and neck. Sweat was pouring off of him and he pulled his soaked shirt away from his back to relieve him from the heat. It was only a temporary solution that lasted for all of a second, before he became too hot again. He didn't want to risk removing his jacket though; the burn he was sure to get without it wasn't worth it.

They had checked in with the other group several times, and though the young Professor was anxious about being separated from his student, Eli seemed to be doing fine. In fact, the small amount of leadership he had gained from Lieutenant Scott had not only perked him up, but seemed to make him take the mission more seriously.

"All right, come on. Let's go," Scott told them when he walked past, Greer not far behind. Rush took a long drink of water from his quickly dwindling supply. "You'd better save some of that."

"We need to slow down," Rush panted, still kneeling.

"We need to cover more ground."

Rush sighed loudly, almost seeming to refuse getting up. "It's gonna be impossible to maintain this pace on the way back."

Greer turned towards them, sneering. "Maybe for _you_."

Rush smiled sarcastically as Charlie pulled himself into a standing position. He biked to work every day so he was more fit than most of the other scientists, but even he would admit to being exhausted. "How tedious. Little boys playing soldier," Rush sounded annoyed and goading. "Well, I'm sorry…I've no interest in playing your game."

"I'm not playing _anything_. I'm trying to save the lives of everyone aboard that ship—"

Rush cut him off. "If we continue this pace, we're gonna die out here."

"Yeah, maybe we will…" Scott mumbled, too quietly for the others to hear. His attention was pulled away by what looked like a small vortex of whirling sand a short distance away.

Unaware that he no longer held the Lieutenants attention, Rush continued angrily. "Light years away from the admiring eyes of your father, or your drill sergeant, or whoever's approval it is you so desperately seek..."

Charlie quickly scrambled away as Greer furiously stormed up behind the doctor and kicked him into the sand. Rush stumbled away before he spun around to Greer, livid. "How _dare_ you?"

"Get up and move." Greer's hand was resting on his rifle, a clear threat, and Charlie took a halted step towards them, afraid the violence would escalate.

"Hey, d'you see that?" Scott questioned, oblivious to the rising tension.

Greer stood less than a foot away from the scientist, glaring at him. He gave one last look of contempt before shouldering past the smaller man and joining Matt. "What?" He questioned, gazing out at the flat sand and rolling dunes, seeing nothing.

Scott took in the sight again, but the strange whirlwind was gone. "I don't know. Nothin'. Let's move."

Matt walked past Rush, giving Charlie a light slap on the shoulder as the younger man moved to catch up. Rush gestured at them angrily before shouting, "One hour. One hour and then we start circling back."

"All right, fine," Scott replied, Greer bringing up the rear of the group.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

TJ pulled the needle out of Telford's arm slowly, quickly putting a dressing over it and bending his elbow to stop the bleeding. "Just hold that there," she told him, standing and packing away her kit.

"Thank you," Telford mumbled, taking a second before attempting to stand. It didn't work, his head started to spin and his eyes began to lose focus. Shaking his head, he turned to look at the medic, and she just looked back, not quite smiling at him. "What did you..." breathing heavily, he fell backwards unto the bed, unconscious before the question could be completed. TJ just continued to calmly pack her kit again.

Mehta looked furious, stomping over to the younger woman. "That was supposed to be for the pain! What did you give to him?"

Picking up Telford's feet, she swung him around so he was flat on his back in the bed. "A strong sedative - which we are desperately short on and I should not have had to use…just so that Colonel Young can return to a body in working condition."

"You are out of line, Lieutenant," Mehta sneered.

TJ stopped packing long enough to glare the older woman down. "Disregarding the health of another human being is out of line. I am _well_ within my rights as ranking medical officer. He'll be out an hour or two." She grabbed her pack and turned to head down the hallway.

"Well, what am _I_ supposed to do?"

"I don't care," TJ said, twirling around and gesturing with her hands. "I have other patients to attend to." With that she marched out of the room and activated the door sensor to close the doors behind her.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Charlie walked in single file across the dunes with his other three companions. Greer was once again at the head of the pack, with Rush following close behind. Scott was a little ways behind the math professor and Charlie turned to him when he no longer heard the monotonous sound of sand grating against more grains of sand. Scott has stopped walking.

The not much older soldier was looking behind him in what could only be considered confusion etched upon his face. Slowing to a stop, Charlie took a hesitant step forwards, unsure of what to do. "Something wrong?" He asked plaintively, the words breaking the near hour long silence that had befallen on the group. The other two turned towards them and Charlie shifted uncomfortably under their gaze.

Matt turned back to him, a momentary pause before he sighed. "No, I'm fine."

Before they could continue on their desert hike, Rush dropped down to his knees, pack hitting the ground with a muffled thump. "Good place as any to stop and test."

Charlie kneeled down next to him, muscles burning from the long hike. Reaching over, he assisted Rush in setting up the components to test the sand. God only knows he had seen it done enough in the past several hours to do it himself.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Eli sighed heavily as Palmer held the beaker up into the light. It was red. Shaking his head, the student stood up slowly, face red with sunburn and exertion as he unbuttoned his burrowed jacket to cool off some. It didn't help. "I take it that's not good."

"No," Andrea mumbled beside him, dumping the fluid out and packing her kit back up.

Eli jogged over to Jeremy and Curtis who were talking in hushed tones over the hand held Ancient device. "Hey, guys. Another negative over here. I'll radio Scott and tell them we're moving on."

"Uh, yeah, the..." Franklin trailed off, grabbing his pack from the ground as Eli turned back to them in confusion. "That's not what's going down."

"It's not?"

"No," Jeremy supplied shortly. Holding up the device he waved it around as Palmer moved up next to Eli. "There are four other viable addresses in this thing. I think I found an override that'll allow us to dial from here—"

"Yeah, but—"

"Look around!" Curtis nearly shouted. "This planet is a dead zone!"

"But..." Eli trailed off.

"We should have been trying to dial these other planets from the start," Franklin jumped in as Curtis turned to glance around.

"But Rush said—"

The soldier cut him off quickly. "We don't care what Rush said!"

" _We_ don't trust him."

Eli thought that they sounded like elementary students, ganging up and double teaming the weird smart kid that nobody liked. " _Rush_ doesn't want us all to _die_!" Eli shouted.

"That doesn't mean we trust him to make the right decisions," Andrea finally cut in, hands on her hips as she took in the arguing men.

Eli turned back towards her in disbelief. "You too?" He sounded almost betrayed. "What about the lake bed?"

"It could be hundreds of miles from here," she told him quietly, moving closer in order to be heard. It was times like these that she was reminded that Wallace was young, almost too young. The kid's loyalty was sweet, but misplaced and ill guided. "We could be blowing our only chance of finding a decent place to evac."

"Maybe the ship _did_ bring us here because there's lime on this planet," Jeremy walked down from the dune and approached the student, Curtis following right after. "For all we know, the Ancients had a way of locating it that we don't."

"For that matter," Curtis cut in. If Eli didn't know better he would swear that they were twins, with the way that their brains seemed to be linked. "I'm sure they could have stopped the ship for longer than twelve hours to find it, and recover it with the proper tools."

"The fact is," Franklin continued, finishing off of Curtis' sentence. "The Ancients wouldn't have let the life support system get that screwed up in the first place. Rush is set on fixing the ship. He's deaf to any other logic. We need to find a planet we can survive on. This might be our last chance."

"That ship jumps into FTL, we could be dead before it drops out again."

Franklin turned to walk back. "We're going to the Gate."

"Give me the remote!" Eli commanded as Jeremy walked past. The sound of a gun being cocked had Eli whirling around to see Curtis pointing his rifle at him. "Or not," he back tracked. "That was optional."

"Give me the Kino," Curtis demanded, gun still trained on the vicinity of Eli's heart.

"Isn't this mutiny?" Eli asked softly, desperate.

"I'm not sure that applies on the other side of the universe." Eli sighed loudly before he quickly unzipped his pack, grabbed the flying camera ball, and all but threw it at Franklin. "Besides," Curtis continued, rifle no longer pointing at the kid, but Eli still held his hands up in surrender. "My orders were to keep searching and then head back to the Gate. Are we done?"

"We're done," Andrea answered.

"Go ahead and tell Scott we're heading to the Gate if you want. My radio doesn't seem to be workin'."

"We'll let you know if we find a planet we can survive on," Franklin assured.

"That remote," Eli yelled after them. "Was our only way back to the ship!"

"You'll have to get another one!"

Eli turned away from them, chest tight as the others around him left. He wished Professor Eppes was here, he would know what to do.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Charlie took his cap off and rubbed a hand through his curls as his head hung in disbelief and desperation. Another failed test and time was quickly running out. Standing, Charlie took a couple steps away, Greer's eyes tracking him as the Professor stopped in thought. The sun had been moving slowly but steadily towards the horizon, nearing sunset.

He calculated that they days were forty-three to forty-four hours long with temperatures ranging between hundred ten to hundred twenty. Sunset was still at least seven hours away and night would last another twenty. The nights would be closer to freezing and there was no vegetation, no water, and no outside of their two groups. If the Destiny left without them, they wouldn't survive to see sunrise tomorrow.

"We've gotta keep going," Scott voice interrupted Charlie's depressing thoughts and the younger man wandered back to the group.

Rush was gulping the water from his canteen, appearing as though he wouldn't be able to get up, let alone continue their search. "Here," Rush was holding his bottle out to the Lieutenant. "Take it."

Scott shook his head in confusion. "I have my own."

"No, no. I can't go on. I'm never gonna make it back. I know it's here…you have to find it," Rush halfheartedly tossed the water bottle as he took a moment to rest. "Take it."

Scott reached down and picked up his pack. Crouching next to the exhausted scientist, he started to put the testing gear into his backpack. Greer quickly moved over to his friend and Charlie could see that his left sleeve and back were covered in dried blood. It made him feel sick to his stomach. "We're gonna leave him here?" Greer questioned.

"We'll make our way back to the Gate," Rush supplied, gesturing with a wave of his hand that Charlie was in the concluded 'we'.

"Go with them," Scott told Greer, grabbing Rush's water as he continued to quickly pack away the kit.

"I'm not leaving you here alone," Greer whispered harshly.

Scott talked over him easily. "Make sure they get back alive."

"What difference does it make?" Ronald questioned.

"Because," Scott continued. "If I don't find what we need, Rush's gonna be the one to find some other way to save his own ass, and yours along with it."

Charlie watched as Greer reached out and placed his hand on the other man's chest, grabbing his tac-vest to still his near frantic movements. "You're losin' it."

Shaking his head, Matt looked Greer in the eye before clapping him roughly on the shoulder. "I'll be OK."

Sergeant Greer gave him a look could easily be translated as not confident before he bumped Scott's arm gently with his fist an assent. Just as they were moving to head out, Eli's voice came over the radio in an urgent whisper. "Scott, this is Eli. Come in. If you can hear me, please respond."

Grabbing his radio, Matt quickly responded. "This is Scott. What's up?"

"We have a problem," Eli replied quickly, still whispering. "Franklin, Curtis and Palmer have given up and are headed back to the Gate to try dialing the other addresses on the remote. They also have the Kino. They don't think we're gonna find the lime here. They wanna look for another planet that will support life."

Rush shook his head slowly. "They're gonna get themselves killed."

"Don't we need the remote to get back to the ship?" Greer questioned.

"That's not the point," Rush interrupted. "A few hours is nowhere near enough time to determine whether a planet is even safe, let alone viable for sustaining life." Scott reached down for his pack and started when Rush nearly yelled the next few words. "The ship…the ship's our only real hope of ever getting home."

Hoisting the bag onto his shoulders, Scott gave Greer a pointed look. "Stop them if you can. I'll turn back when I have to."

"Yes, sir," Greer replied as Scott walked past him.

"Go!" Scott prompted and Greer turned his attention to Rush who was still sitting hopelessly in the sand.

"You lead," the Sergeant told the scientist before Charlie walked over and assisted the man to his feet.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Major Green entered the drawing room tentatively, not wanting to interrupt but knowing he had no choice. Knocking on the door jamb he drew the attention of the two weeping woman and turned his gaze to just over their shoulders to give them a little privacy. "I'm sorry, excuse me. Uh, Miss Armstrong, we'd better be going soon."

The Senator's wife gave him a look that was both desperate and angry. "You get my daughter home."

"Everyone is doing the best they can, I assure you."

"That's not good enough," the woman was on her feet, face twisting in sorrow and rage.

"Mom," Chloe interrupted softly. "It's not his fault."

Her mother took several steps closer to the Major. "I am a personal friend of the President and of the first lady."

"Yes, ma'am."

"You tell your superiors, if anything happens to her, I will go public with what I know."

"Mom..." Chloe interjected, hand grasping at the other woman's. Turning to the Major, she addressed him as her mother threatened him. "I'm sorry. She's upset."

Mrs. Armstrong continued as if she hadn't been interrupted. "My husband gave his life for my daughter. You get her back to me, or the whole world is gonna know what has really been going on these past years."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Scott felt like he had been walking for an eternity. He was exhausted, over heated, dehydrated, and burned. All around him it was the same view, sand upon sand, never changing and always shifting. He slowed to a stop before grabbing his canteen and taking a small sip out of it. Just as he was about to cap it, the swirling whirlwind of sand danced before him.

It hovered in one spot and he walked closer before kneeling down. As he poured a little bit of his water into the sand, he briefly thought upon the possibility that he was hallucinating but for some reason couldn't really bring himself to care. The vortex whirled across the area of sand that was wet from his water and Scott watched as the thing seemed to absorb the water, leaving the ground bone dry once more before it moved a little ways away.

Scott stared at the smoothed area in fascination, before the sand receded and revealed the face of a man staring upwards. It took only a second for Scott to register that it was the priest who had raised him before he had recoiled in fear. When he looked again, the face was gone and the sand was again smooth, as if it had never happened.

He told himself softly that it was just a hallucination, but that didn't stop his heart from trying to beat out of his chest. When he looked up, the whirlwind of sand seemed to be dancing away from him and Matt stood slowly before stumbling after it.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Charlie trudged behind Rush as they made their way back to the gate once again in single file. The older man was breathing harshly, shoulders sagging in exhaustion. They were on the highest peak of a sand dune and they could see for miles around them. Charlie's mind went into overdrive as he tried to calculate how each dune was formed and how long it came to be, in order to distract himself from the pressing heat.

He was so lost in thought that he stumbled slightly and overbalanced in an attempt to right himself. Charlie would have taken a nice dive down the side of the dune if the soldier trailing them hadn't grabbed his arm and yanked him back. The man's hand was latched around his bicep where someone else not long ago had grabbed him to keep him from getting squashed by the cargo. Charlie knew that he was going to have a nasty bruise there before long.

Righting himself, Charlie glanced nervously at Greer before thanking him softly. Greer just nodded his head and released him once he was sure that Charlie wasn't going to fall. The young Professor gazed after the soldier as he continued in his trek before shaking his head and jogging to catch up. Sometimes he just didn't get people.

"I need water," Rush's voice interrupted the younger man's silent musings. He sounded almost petulant.

"We're almost there," Greer told him. He made the one sentence sound both annoyed and apathetic.

"I thought, since I gave Scott my canteen, we'd share." Charlie would have offered him his own water, if he hadn't finished it several minutes before.

"And you were wrong about that."

"Ah, I should have known," Nicholas was panting, turning to look behind him every now and then as the two argued. Well, Rush argued, Greer just seemed to be the intended target.

"Yeah?" The Sergeant asked. "You think you know me pretty well, don't you?"

"I helped choose the personnel for Icarus Base. I read your file," Rush turned to point at him. "And neither you nor Captain Marvel back there were on _my_ list, I can tell you."

"Ooh!" Greer laughed. Charlie slowed down a little to put more space between him and the quarreling men. "You think I care?"

Rush turned back to him and held his hand out. "Give me some water," he demanded.

Greer slapped his hand away before telling him to keep walking. Rush stumbled momentarily and Charlie watched as Greer didn't even try to help the doctor like Greer had helped him. It seemed that the soldier didn't have anything against scientists and professors in general, just Rush.

"You think just because you were born poor, that gives you the right to be angry at the world! How pathetic!"

"Ooh, yeah, yeah. You think _that's_ why I'm angry?" Greer put a little extra oomph in the last word and if the situation hadn't been so serious, Charlie thought he would have found the conversation humorous.

"If it wasn't for the army, you'd be in jail, or worse."

Greer laughed loudly at the other man. "Oh, that's what all you rich people think."

"Rich?" Rush shouted angrily, turning towards Greer as they both stopped walking. Charlie pulled up short behind them. "My father worked in the shipyards in Glasgow. I earned a scholarship to Oxford while I was working two jobs. I have earned the right to make decisions without explaining myself to _you_ or anyone else!" Charlie noticed that as Rush ranted, his accent became even thicker. "You give me some of that water!"

"Keep walking," Greer told him quietly.

"You give me some of that water!" Rush made a desperate grab for the canteen but Greer pushed him back harshly, sending the Scotsman stumbling to the ground.

"Don't you _ever_ touch me."

Rush scrambled up before he hurled himself at the soldier, sending both of them down the side of the dune. Charlie ran down after them when he saw Greer pull his pistol out upon reaching the bottom. The heat was making all of them go crazy and if he didn't do something soon, Charlie felt for sure that someone was going to get killed.

"You do that again and I'm gonna put a bullet…in your face," Greer told him as Charlie hurried over to his side.

"Oh really?" Rush questioned and the Professor wished desperately that he would shut up before he got himself shot. The Sergeant cocked his gun and aimed it at the fallen man. "I don't think so. You need me. Otherwise you'd have gladly done it by now."

Greer sneered down at him. "I don't need you," he said, voice dripping with acid. "I've got him." He cocked his head to the side, and Rush turned to look at Eppes understanding and fear coloring his expression. The young CalSci Professor was just as smart, if not smarter then Nicholas himself, especially in mathematics.

Charlie froze at the implication, and then rushed over to Greer. He hesitated for a moment, a half a second really, as he debated what action to take. The Sergeant seemed more like a tactile man, so Charlie decided to not try to logic him out of his anger. Instead, he placed a tentative hand on the volatile man's arm. "Please," he whispered, wishing his brother was here to tell him what to do. Greer turned a little towards him; gaze still riveted on the prone form of the Scottish doctor. "Please don't…"

There was several seconds of complete stillness before Greer pulled back, lips pursed as he gestured angrily at Rush with the point of his gun. Shrugging the younger man's hand off of him, Greer turned and stormed away. "Right now, I pray to the God above that dehydration will shut you the hell up." Even though he turned to face both of them, the next words were clearly directed at the Scotsman. "Walk…or die here. It's your choice, Mr…" snapping his fingers suddenly, "Decision-Maker."

Greer laughed to himself as Rush stared after him. Charlie only hesitated a moment before following.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

The Gate activated with a loud kawoosh and the Kino flew through slowly. Palmer and Curtis hovered to either side of Franklin, gazing at the Ancient device as the Kino sent back footage and data. "Looks like it's worth a shot to me," Franklin tells them.

Nodding his head slowly, Curtis checked his gun before replying. "Let's do it."

The three survivors made their way slowly up the ramp, but were halted as Eli shouted at them. "Wait, stop!" His flushed and overweight form could be seen running down the nearest dune, gesturing wildly with his hands.

Franklin turned back and walked towards him as he approached, shouting to be heard over the distance that was quickly diminishing. "Look, it's not perfect, but it's better than here. Vegetation, water, air. It's not too late for you to come with us.

"Don't go," Wallace panted, stumbling to a stop just past Jeremy.

"We'll dial back when we know it's safe to evacuate everyone," Franklin assured him.

"We'll never get back home!"

Franklin gestured harshly with the Ancient device as frustration started to leak into his words. ""You don't know that! Maybe there's a way we can use the Gate system to connect the dots."

Turning to Curtis and Palmer who were both just inches away from the event horizon, Eli desperately tried to reason with them. "There has to be a reason the ship locked out those addresses!" Before he could finish, Curtis pivoted and walked through the Stargate. Palmer hesitated, looking between the two men. Franklin gave her an encouraging nod and she turned back to the gate. "Don't. Please!" But it was too late. She was already gone.

Exasperated, Eli turned to Franklin waving his hands around helplessly, begging him without words. Jeremy shrugged at him, before he started up the ramp. He got no more than a few feet before a bang rang out and sparks and dust flew up from the ramp before them. Franklin cringed back, recognizing the sound for what it was, but it took Eli a second longer to realize that it was gunfire he was hearing. Belatedly, the CalSci student flung himself to the ground to get out of the way. Franklin turned and found one of the soldiers staring down his rifle at him.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Charlie and Rush sprinted up the last half of the dune to catch up to Greer. They could see Franklin walk a few paces towards them before turning and running up the ramp. "Shoot him," Rush told him, and Greer gave him a quick glance before acquiescing.

"Wait, what!" Charlie shouted just before another shot rang out. The bullet stuck Franklin in his right shoulder, well away from anything vital, and he tumbled face first on the ramp. Greer took off, running down the dune towards the Gate, Rush and Charlie following right after.

The Stargate deactivated before they were even halfway and Eli held his hands out in the universal sign of surrender. "Why did you do that?"

"He _told_ me to," Greer replied, kneeling down to check Franklin's injury.

Rush trotted up to them, Charlie close behind. "He saved his life," Rush replied, unapologetic.

"By _shooting_ him?" Charlie yelled, confused and frightened.

"He'll live," Greer assured him as Franklin passed out from the pain.

Eli moved towards the Gate, staring at where the event horizon was just seconds before. "You just stranded Curtis and Palmer."

"We'll send them another remote. I wasn't taking any chances."

"Where's Scott?" Eli asked, choosing to change the subject from shooting and stranding people.

"He's still looking for limestone." Rush replied, collapsing onto the ramp as his legs gave out in exhaustion.

Charlie bent down and grabbed the remote that was lying next to Franklin's prone form. Pressing several buttons, Eppes quickly got the hang of it and accessed Destiny's computer. "It's half-time. We only have six hours 'til the ship leaves."

Activating his radio, Greer cursed softly. "Lieutenant, this is Greer. Come in."

"I hope he's turned back by now," Eli's worried voice was taking on a twinge of hysteria.

"Lieutenant? Come in."

There was no reply.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

He could feel his feet dragging with each step, but Matt couldn't stop, _refused_ to stop. Glancing behind him, he saw that the Priest was following. Scott turned away; trying to ignore what he knew was only a hallucination and instead turned his gaze to the sand twister that was dancing away from him.

When the Priest caught up to him, Scott stopped suddenly and the man passed him before coming to a halt and turning around. "You must keep going, my boy. You don't give up," the Priest told him.

"I don't need you to tell me that," Scott said bitterly, unscrewing his water bottle and drinking from it. In response the Priest reached inside his jacket and pulled out a flask of his own. Chuckling, the man raised it to Scott in a toast and chugged deeply.

"I'm not gonna let anyone else down the way I let _you_ down," Scott told him, walking past the Priest and continuing further into the desert. "And you really don't have to follow me around to remind me." But Scott knew that it was his own guilt that dragged the Priest with him wherever he went.

"He has His plan…for all of us."

Lieutenant Scott kept walking.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Rush wiped his hands clean of blood as he finished dressing Franklin's wound. Jeremy himself was still blissfully unconscious. Greer stood nearby and Eli was showing Charlie the Kino controls.

"He's either out of radio range or he's lying face down in the sand, dead or soon to be," Rush informed him. Charlie nervously waited for the fight to break out, but it never did.

"I'm going back for him," Greer informed the group.

Nicholas scoffed, looking up at the man in exasperation. "Oh, that's great. Suicide."

"I'm not leaving him out here." Grabbing a bandana, Ronald wrapped it around his neck to protect it from the sun.

"I'll go with you," Charlie told him, placing a tentative hand on his shoulder.

"No, no, you're just gonna slow me down," Greer told him truthfully, but he didn't shrug the hand off.

Gesturing to Franklin, Rush argued against the rash decision. "Look, this man _has_ to get back to the ship. He needs medical attention."

"Dial," the Sergeant commanded to Eppes. "They can take Franklin back; you wait here for me."

"You have five hours to find him and get back here," Eli cut in, worry making him fidget restlessly.

Laughing sarcastically Rush sneered at them. "Oh well, it's _not_ been a pleasure knowing you."

Greer gave him a particular look that Charlie couldn't place. One second the man was looking down at Rush and the next he was shoving a pistol into his hands. "What do I need _that_ for?" Charlie asked, hesitantly taking the gun. He knew how to use it of course, his brother was an FBI Agent and had taught him how to properly handle and shoot with a Glock. Didn't mean he had liked it though.

Still looking at Rush, the Sergeant answered him. "Just in case."

"In case _what_?" Eli asked, confused and a little lost.

Greer didn't bother to answer, and instead turned back to the Professor. "You'd better _be_ here."

"I will," Charlie honestly assured him. Greer gave him a quick pat on the chest and then he was trotting off into the desert. Charlie prayed they made it back in time, because he wouldn't leave them. He gave them his word.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"Why do I feel like I've been drugged?" Young questioned drowsily from his prone position sprawled across the bed.

"Oh, good to have you back, sir." TJ walked over to him as Young attempted to sit up.

"Son of..." groaning in pain, Tamera assisted him until he was upright. "What the hell was Telford doing?"

"Well..." she trailed off, grabbing the rifle that was now a crutch, she handed it to the Colonel. "Here, you're gonna need this."

Slowly and painfully, he got to his feet and with TJ's help; they made it out of the room.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Sergeant Riley stood in front of the active gate with Brody and several other marines, waiting. They didn't have to wait long as Rush appeared through the Gate, Franklin's good arm draped over his shoulders, dragging the other man through.

"There they are," Hunter supplied, unnecessarily.

They all rushed forward to catch the wounded scientist before he fell. "Hurry up, hurry up!" Rush urged them, his own legs giving out.

"Come on, help him, help him!" A marine shouted and they gently laid Franklin on the ground.

Riley caught Rush's arm before he could collapse and he eased him into a sitting position. "What happened?" The Sergeant questioned, arm still supporting the trembling scientist, afraid that if he let go the other man would just collapse.

"Greer," Rush gasped out. "Greer shot him. Water, water."

Riley handed him his canteen and watched as Rush drained the entire bottle. TJ ran into the room and hurried over to Franklin as the others moved back to give her room. Taking his bottle back, Riley sighed grumpily. "That was my ration for the day!"

"What's going on?" Colonel Young questioned, limping slowly into the room.

Taking his sun glasses off, Rush turned his burnt face up to the Colonel and gave him a sarcastic smile. "Oh, we've had a lovely day at the beach. How about you?"

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Scott stumbled across the sand, feet trailing in the grain, barely lifting them at all. He pulled his rifle from his shoulder and dropped it, followed by his backpack that he shrugged out of. Shuffling forward a few more steps, he fell to his knees as his legs gave out. Crawling a short distance, he managed to lift his head and he squinted his eyes at the sight before him. A large wooden crucifix, complete with a carving of the crucified body of Christ, was perched in the sand, right before him.

Collapsing into the sand, Scott passed out and sailed into oblivion as he remembered.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"Curtis, Palmer, this is Eli. If you can hear me, please come in." Eli paced back in forward in front of the active Gate. Charlie stood a little ways off examining the Ancient remote. Eli gazed at the Stargate hopefully. "Curtis, Palmer, _please_ respond."

The Gate deactivated as its time limit was reached. Charlie glanced up to the worried face of his student. "Still nothing?" He questioned.

Eli shook his head sadly and looked around in despair, watching vigilantly for Greer's and Scott's return.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

The whirling vortex of sand danced along the length of Scott's unconscious body. Swirling in front of his face, it burrowed into the sand. The ground seemed to heave for a moment, and then water bubbled out, right into Scott's face and waking him.

Scott lifted himself slowly, kneeling over the puddle as he gazed at the water in amazement. He reached out, picking up the soaked sand and watched as it crumbled between his fingers. He turned and stumbled back to his pack, yanking the testing equipment out as quickly as he could. Dropping the sand into the beaker, he added the last of his water, heats it and then dropped the red fluid in. When he swirled it, the red color disappeared.

Laughing in amazement and delight, he scrabbled quickly for his radio. "This is Scott, come in!" There was no reply. "I've found it! I've found the lake bed. I've got the lime!"

Deactivating his radio, he turned instead to watch and noted the time with horror. He was running out of it, and quickly. "Oh my God." Grabbing his radio again, he pleaded even as he started to shovel the lime into his empty sack. "If you can hear me, wait! Just wait! I'm coming!"

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Charlie watched as Lieutenant James and two other Marines stepped through the Gate and hurried down the ramp. James gasped as she took in the heat and the sight. She made her way over to the Professor and his student, both of which were badly sunburned.

"Charlie, Eli," James trotted over to them, handing Eli the Kino. "Which way?"

Eli was already furiously typing on the hand held device, so Charlie pointed them in the direction that Greer had run off in.

"Let's move out."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Scott stumbled as he dragged the large sack of sand behind him as fast as he could.

Greer wearily continued on, his trot neither breaking nor slowing.

The scientists on board the _Destiny_ took the goo-encrusted scrubbers out of the walls and were cleaning them as best as they could. Nearby, Rush shook his head as he realized that without the lime, there simply was no hope.

Chloe sat on a bed in one of the many sleeping quarters, hands steady as she held the flashlight over Franklin's wound. TJ was next to her, attempting to remove the bullet with no surgical equipment.

Scott fell as the weight of the sand dragged him down, but he forced himself to stand and continue on.

Greer ran down a steep dune, his own momentum keeping him going.

Survivors were struggling to breathe. On the gantry above the Stargate, Colonel Young gazed down at the Gate, willing it to activate and bring their salvation while all around him, people collapsed weakly upon the floor, waiting to be saved or to die.

Scott dropped the bag, rifle following soon after. Stumbling a few more steps, he crumpled to the ground in exhaustion.

Greer's eyes were riveted on the footprints ahead, leading up a dune. "Scott," he whispered.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Greer crested the dune, eyes desperately seeking his friend. It only took a moment to find him, his black attire making him stand out. Shedding his backpack, Greer raced over to him, yanking his canteen out. Falling to his knees, he forced the last bit of water he had into Scott's mouth.

"Drink. Come on, come on, come on back. Come on."

The Lieutenant grunted, and then regained consciousness. Greer wrapped his arms around him to pull him to his feet. "Take the bag," Scott urged as Greer continued to pull him upright. "There's no time. You have to take it."

"Yes you can."

"No, I can't make it."

Greer dropped him and yelled furiously. "Get the hell up! Come on!" He turned and grabbed the bag as Scott struggled in the sand.

"I can't make it."

Stumbling under the weight of the bag, Greer turned to shout at him. "I can't carry you and this!" He leaned over into Scott's face. "Get your weak ass up! Come on!"

Greer pulled the heavy sack as Scott groaned. The Lieutenant struggled to push himself to his feet as Greer continued to shout at him like a drill sergeant. "Come on soldier!"

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"Less than three minutes before the ship jumps again," Rush informed the room as the Colonel limped down from the gantry.

"Incoming!" Riley shouted from his position at the console next to Brody.

The chevrons lit up and the Gate began to spin.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Charlie stepped back as the Gate activated. Eli turned to James and her group as the jogged across the sand. She shook her head sadly. "I'll stay here."

"It's OK," Charlie told her, patting her arm in reassurance.

"No," James gasped out.

"I've got it," Charlie gestured to the ramp, pushing Eli towards the Gate. "You go with them, Eli."

"But, you ca—"

"Eli," Charlie cut him off. "Go."

Wallace gave him a broken look before handing him the remote and following the three Marines diligently through the Gate. The _Destiny_ was dark compared to the blinding light of the desert. James jogged up to the Colonel, removing her helmet and swiping the sweat soaked hair from her face. "Sorry, sir."

"You did your best," Young told her, but he held little hope.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Charlie watched the live footage from the Kino that Eli had sent out to search for Scott and Greer. He shook his head despairingly as it showed nothing but sand.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

The countdown turned from its normal white color to red, and beeped a warning sound. Everyone in the Gate room turned to look at it and Rush sighed loudly.

"Less than one minute."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

The Kino panned across the dunes, and Charlie's eyes were riveted upon the approaching figures. Gasping in relief, he grabbed his radio.

"I see them!" He shouted into the radio, trotting up the ramp to stop at the event horizon. "They're carrying something."

He could see both Scott and Greer carrying one strap of the bag each as they trotted over the closest rise. "We've got it!" Greer shouted at him. "Don't go! We've got it!"

"They've got the lime!" Charlie announced, excited. The Kino beeped and he looked at the time. His mind went over the time, distance, speed, resistance, drag, all in a matter of seconds before he came to a heart stopping conclusion. "...They're not gonna make it!"

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"Forty seconds." Riley stated, voice carrying in the near silence.

Young turned to him in shock and James gasped in disbelief. They were _so_ close.

Rush hurried over to one of the Marines, plan already forming in his mind. It was risky and dangerous, but it might just work. "Give me that," he said, gesturing to the radio. The Marine handed it over quickly and he activated it. "Charlie, I want you to stick your arm into the event horizon of the puddle."

"Come again?" Professor Eppes' voice cracked over the radio even as Eli shouted 'seriously' from behind them.

Young turned to Rush and whispered to him quietly. "You sure?"

"No. But I'm betting there's some kind of safety protocol that prevents something getting cut off halfway through."

"And what if there isn't?"

Rush's expression explained exactly what would happen if there wasn't. "Twenty seconds," Riley announced.

Rush knew that they had no other choice but to risk Eppes' life. Activating the radio, Rush shouted into it. "Charlie, do it now!"

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Grimacing, Charlie took several deep breaths before he pushed his arm through the event horizon. He knew that if this didn't work, they would die out here. Of course, he would die a lot faster with blood loss, but beggars can't be choosers.

Turning he looked around as the other two stumbled under the weight of the bag. "Come on, man! Come on!" Greer encouraged Scott, willing him to move faster.

" _Come on!"_ Charlie didn't quite wail as the ten second mark passed and then the five.

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Riley had already started the final countdown. "Five, four, three, two, one."

As he finished, the Ancient clock pinged and showed recognizable zeroes. _Destiny_ began to vibrate as if to jump into FTL, but unable to because of the active Stargate. Everyone began to shift nervously as the ship rumbled and shook from the effort. Just then Scott and Greer stumbled through the gate, falling onto the cold metal floor, bag dropped between them. Seconds later Charlie ran though as well, tripping over the discarded bag and falling nearly on top of the prone soldiers.

The Gate shutdown behind them and a Marine helped Charlie to his knees. Rush hurried over before handing him a canteen full of water. "Charlie, drink."

Scott coughed convulsively as Young tried to calm him down. "Scott, look at me. Lieutenant, look at me. _Look_ at me! Look at me."

Next to them, Greer drank from another canteen that had been handed to him. Rush patted Charlie on the back as he drank, Eli rushing over to give the man a quick hug. "Well done, you two. Well done."

The lights in the Gate room began to flicker and go out as the ship convulsed. The engines became louder as they powered up. Moments later, _Destiny_ jumped into FTL.

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Charlie watched on in fascination as the lime sand had been converted into a fluid and was poured into the tank of the scrubbers. Fitting the top back on, two of the crew members carried it back to the hole in the wall and fit it in. It was pulled into position by the ship and immediately it activated and CO2 started to bubble through it.

In the Control Room, Eli pushed a button that reactivated the air flow. Glancing upon the schematics on the console as the corridors changed from being yellowish-red, to green. "Look," he gestured Brody and Park over as he smiled.

All around the ship, clean, oxygen filled air hissed through the vents and everyone smiled in relief as they could finally breathe. Colonel Young stopped his slow limp through the hallway and took a deep lungful of air, eyes closed in appreciation.

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Lieutenant Scott was lying limply upon his bed in what he had claimed as his sleeping quarters. Exhausted and badly sunburned, he watched the FTL vortex flow past his window in a lazy interest. Chloe walked into the room, carrying a bottle and she sat down next to him.

"I brought you some water."

Scott smiled softly at her. "I still have some."

"You really need to drink it," Chloe told him sternly.

"I'm fine."

Placing her hand on his forearm that was not burned at all, she let the silence carry for a minute longer. "Everyone appreciates what you did."

"Did Rush say how long they'll last?"

She shook her head in uncertainty. "He's not sure."

Gazing up at her, Scott took in her calm appearance. "How are you?" She shrugged with one shoulder before looking down to the floor, fighting back tears. "My parents died in a car crash when I was four years old."

"No!" She whispered, shocked. "I'm sorry."

"And the priest who raised me…" Matt continued. "He pretty much drank himself to death when I was sixteen."

"My God!"

"I'm sorry…I'm not trying to diminish what you're going through ..."

"I know."

"I think my point is: there's just some things you never get over. That's just the way it is." He grabbed Chloe's hand in his burnt one. "You go on through..." he whispered softly. "Best as you can."

She nodded her head in understanding, and he settled back down again. They sat together in silence, for what seemed like an eternity.

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Unknown to the rest of the crew, a small shuttle activated its shields and disengaged from _Destiny's_ hull. It took off, disappearing as it moved away from the ship.


	4. Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew survive another day, but today seems the worst day since yesterday. The 'Destiny' is plunged into darkness and Charlie makes a new 'friend'?

" _I'm sorry, if you were right, I'd agree with you."_

**Darkness Part One**

The gentle beeping of the console filled the near silent room as Rush scrolled from one list written in Ancient to the next. A metal cup sat to the side, out of the way but within easy reaching distance. Rush grabbed it quickly, hands shaking as he drank the lukewarm water, wishing desperately for coffee even though he knew it was an impossibility. Out of all the useless crates full of supplies that made it through, he mourned the one full of coffee left behind to be obliterated along with the rest of Icarus base most.

Black spots started to dart around his eyes and he scrubbed a hand down his face, palms catching on the four day old stubble. He hadn't shaved since before the attack…hadn't really slept since then either. Hours before, he had sent an exhausted Charlie away with orders to rest. Out of all the scientists that made it through, Professor Eppes was probably the least likely to piss him off in any given moment. Charlie hardly ever questioned anything, only asking questions when he needed assistance, and usually did as he was told quietly and quickly.

Eppes' student, Eli Wallace, was also on his tolerant list, but Rush sent him away days ago. The kid was smart, and good at what he did, but the truth was that Charlie would always be better. The kid was just too curious for his own good, and Nicholas had neither the time, nor the energy to humor him.

Nicholas saw the problem from the moment they set foot on the Ancient vessel, and the last few days confirmed it; they were running out of power, and fast. Getting Charlie up to speed took a surprisingly little amount of time, his only set back was that everything was in Ancient. Eppes' mathematical capabilities far outweighed Nicholas' annoyance of having to translate every now and then so Rush gave him the task of calculating their reserve power with what information they could attain, while he attempted to access further data within the ships logs.

The work was slow, yielding more problems than answers, though progress was being made. But Rush feared that it wasn't fast enough.

For days the two worked together, side by side in silence broken only by soft spoken questions, snarky commands, beeping of buttons, and the ever constant hum of the ship itself. Occasionally Rush would take a quick nap on the bench, or a break when Eli brought food, and it was during one of those moments that he noticed a disturbing habit of the younger genius'. Give the kid a problem and he'll spend everything solving it.

Rush wasn't sure if it was the stress of the situation or just how the young professor was, but Charlie went at the equations like a starving crazed pit bull. Charlie ate when brought food, but only a few bites when he could be coaxed to by Eli, before his mind plummeted back into the numbers and everything else seemed to lose existence to the young man. He dozed for a few minutes every so often when his brain seemed to halt from fatigue, but never more than ten minutes at a time and always a half a dozen hours apart.

Though tired as they both were, Charlie hadn't yet made a mistake. Rush though, didn't want to tempt fate and sent him to his quarters. Eppes' hardly put up a fight at all, and Rush hoped that he would indeed go rest.

Shutting his eyes tightly, Rush ignored the pounding in his skull as he grabbed the not-coffee again, nearly spilling it as his hands shook. The cup tipped dangerously when he set it down, but it didn't fall. Wiping his mouth, Rush was taken in by the words displayed on the screen. Confusion was the first emotion that set in, followed quickly by disbelief, and then anger. Throwing his notebook on the console, Nicholas stormed angrily out of the control interface room.

His brisk pace brought him quickly down the hallway, tension lining his entire body. He passed several unknown soldiers and a few scientists, all who scrambled out of his way before a young man jumped out at him.

"Doctor Rush!" Sergeant Riley shouted, running after the man. "Doctor Rush, I was wondering-"

"Not now!" Rush shouted at him, neither stopping nor turning. Riley stood still in the hall, watching the doctor's quickly retreating form.

It took very little time for Rush to reach his destination. It was a small control room, tucked out of the way in one of the lesser used corridors. Dr. Lisa Park was standing behind the main console, a man Rush didn't recognize working along the wall, and an older woman, Dr. Mandalis, he believed her name was, was standing nearby. He spared the woman a glance, taking in her rumpled clothing and bruised face before directing his question and hostility at the highest ranking individual there.

"What are you doing?" Rush asked Dr. Park, sneering as she smiled at him.

"Morning!" Lisa chirped at him, setting his headache off worse and making his teeth grind in annoyance. "Colonel Young asked us to figure out-"

"We turned these systems off for a reason," he pointed at the console before nearly shouting at her. "They need to stay off!"

Lisa's mouth hung open in surprise as she was stunned into silence at his hostility. Rush gave her a look and gestured towards the console meaningfully. Prompted into action, Park hastily did as he demanded, reaching out and depressing a button. The room hummed lowly for a moment before all the equipment powered down. Rush turned quickly and was gone before they could blink. Lisa turned to the others, confusion and a little fear settling on her face.

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Private Darren Becker measured the powder carefully before pouring it into another field container. The room that they had designated as the ship's Mess Hall was full with over twenty people, all sitting on benches and tables as him and another Air Force Private prepared their lunch.

On earth, back at base, it would be nearing dinner time, but the lights on _Destiny_ seemed to be on another time zone. The lights would dim around a certain time, and stay that way for a full twelve hours. The 'day shift' lasted for sixteen.

Voices filled the quiet din of the room as soldiers and civilians alike chatted. Colonel Young watched them with no small amount of pride as the two groups mingled. They were still separated, the room mostly divided with either group on either side, but the middle group consisted of Eli Wallace, Chloe Armstrong, and Matthew Scott. The young Lieutenant seemed genuinely fond of Eli, and a little taken with the Senator's daughter.

Brody's voice broke his quiet musings as Young turned towards him. "Don't know whether the ship has electrolysers to produce oxygen, but you can see there's not much left in there," Young interrupted with a quiet 'thank-you' to Becker as the man handed him his own portion of the rations. "We did some calculations," Brody continued. "Based on our estimates of the water depth and tank dimensions..."

"And the winner is?" Young asked, stirring his liquid lunch while trying to work up the nerve to eat it.

"Just over ninety thousand litres."

"Ninety-one forty-six," Eli supplied helpfully. Someone snorted in amusement at how pedantic he insisted on being. "Ish!" He added in a panic.

"Go, Math Boy!" Scott teased him, as Chloe shared an amused look with the young soldier. Several people chuckled in amusement and Eli could feel his face heating up in embarrassment.

"Sounds like a lot," Wray cut in, jotting notes down in her steno pad.

Young glanced over at her, taking in her ragged appearance. "Well, it wouldn't fill a back yard swimming pool."

"Still, it's enough to loosen the rationing restrictions, isn't it?" She argued.

"Camile," Young's voice was laced with understanding and amusement.  
I think I know where you're going with this and believe me when I say that I too could use a shower."

Everyone laughed, but Eli was the loudest. "I don't think the showers use water," Eli added, still giggling. He glanced around the room when everyone fell silent. They were all staring at him. "They just spray a sort of mist that you kind of stand in and it sort of beads up." When the others continued to stare, he gestured with his hands. "There's one in the compartment off the crew quarters."

"How do you know all that if you haven't tried it?" Scott asked, genuinely curious.

Eli stared at him for half a second. "How do you know I haven't tried it?"

"Oh," Scott seemed to scoff the word. "We know!"

"Thank you, Lieutenant Rose Garden!" Eli quips as the group laugh at the arguing couple.

"Oh, he's right." Chloe supplied, turning to Matt. "You're worse than _he_ is!"

"Wow! You can tell them apart?" Young asked.

The amusement and merriment lasted for several more seconds before Brody brought them back on topic. "We also identified a recycling system for liquid waste, so once we get that system up and running..." he trailed off as Rush all but stormed into the room, bringing silence in his wake.

"Okay, folks. Let's have a better day than yesterday. Thank you." Young dismissed the group as he watched Rush take a seat at the table Camile occupied and rub his neck. The man looked pale and tired, desperately in need of some rest and a shower.

Everyone dispersed so quickly that Young found himself amused at their reactions to an irate Dr. Rush. Becker walked over quickly, handing the scientist his own bowl of liquid food. "Your ration, sir."

"Thank you," Rush mumbled as Eli glanced quickly at him, and then gave Young a hesitant smile before hightailing it out of the Mess Hall.

Young limped over to him slowly, before sitting down opposite, watching Rush in mild fascination as the man practically inhaled his food. Young had dined with Nicholas several times before, and each time the scientists ate like food was going out of style, or he didn't have the time to spare eating it. Young betted on the latter.

"I ordered you here twenty minutes ago."

"I've been working…" Rush supplied between mouthfuls. "Throughout the night, actually…trying to find out why our power reserves are so low. I'm quite concerned, and so should _you_ be." He glanced between Young and Wray, finally settling on Young. Young was in charge of the soldiers, Camille had the citizens, and the scientists were under Rush's command. But they all knew who held the real power in the triad. If push came to shove, Young would come out on top.

"OK. Well, how bad _is_ it?" Young questioned, humoring him.

"I haven't been able to access any of the main systems yet, so I don't know." Rush was shaking in both fatigue and anger. He sighed in frustration, pushing the palms of his hands into his eyes as Young gazed at him concerned. "Professor Eppes and I have been doing the best we can, but progress has been slow."

"You look exhausted." Camile supplied, leaning over the table to get a better look at him. "Maybe you should take a break."

Young cut them off, realizing that if what Rush said was true then they didn't have time for the man to rest. "Get the information we need and make some informed decisions and we'll report back-"

Whatever else he was about to say was cut off as the lights flickered momentarily and the noise of the engines seemed to staccato before leveling out again. Rush dropped his empty food bowl and Young almost flinched as the noise echoed loudly in the room. The doctor's hands went up to his face in a prayer like motion, before he pointed directly at Young. "Could you please stop people running around, activating every bloody system they can get their hands on?"

"I will." Everett assured him.

Nicholas nodded at him in acknowledgement, mumbling a quiet affirmative. Raising his bowl up towards Becker, he dropped it once more on the table, taking satisfaction in the noise it produced. "That was delicious," he supplied sarcastically. "Thank you very much."

In seconds he was gone and Young was left gazing after him. Shaking his head slowly, Young almost had a bemused look upon his face. "That man is a lot of work." Turning towards Camile, he caught her smiling softly to herself. "Let's bring in the next group, please."

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Rush once again stormed down the hallway, people jumping quickly out of his way. The expression on his face was one of fury. Riley fell into step with him as he was passing, sucking up the courage to talk to him.

"Doctor, I'm very sorry to bother you. I know you're busy, but I really need your-"

Rush turned and grabbed him without warning, fingers digging into his jacket. Spinning him around, Rush slammed the taller man against the wall, glaring all the while. "What did I say?" Rush shouted furiously.

The lights flickered all around the ship again, distracted Rush momentarily. He released Riley quickly and continued to hurry down the corridor without a backwards glance. Riley stared after him in shock, both scared and amazed that such a small man was that powerful.

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The room Sergeant Greer found him in was so out of the way he didn't even know what prompted him to look there, but there Professor Eppes was. Colonel Young had called another meeting and sent him to find the baby professor seeing as he was summoned to one nearly three hours ago.

Glancing around the small bedroom, Greer could feel the annoyance leaking into frustration and he pushed it down. He had to remind himself that this man saved his life, and that of his friend. Eppes was facing away from him, back to the door, chalk in hand, and equations all over the wall. If Ronald didn't know better, he would believe that the man was crazy, but then again, weren't most geniuses.

Walking completely into the room, his surprise rose even further when he continued to be unnoticed. Deciding to take the opportunity to do a little snooping, Greer was confused at what he saw. The quarters were untouched except for the bag on the floor and the writing on the walls, other than that, the bed looked unused. Unless the man folded his sheets with military box corners, but from what he had observed, Greer doubted it.

On the nightstand next to the headboard sat the radio that Eppes had been assigned. Reaching over, Greer plucked it off of the surface and twisted the dials on it. The radio was on and in working condition, so why had it gone ignored. Turning his gaze back at the younger man, Greer approached him with more than a little annoyance. It had taken him over an hour to find the man, after all.

"Want to tell my why your ignoring your radio?" Greer questioned, brow furrowing when he went completely unacknowledged. "Yo, Professor!" He stomped over to the man, angered now.

The young man didn't even flinch, and before Ronald knew it, he was standing next to the young genius. He could see his profile, the man's eyes flickering between the numbers on the wall, lips moving silently, while his hand would occasionally come up and add more to the equation with the chalk. The professor looked thinner than he remembered, and surprisingly pale for the slight sunburn he still had. There was bruising under his eyes that supported his theory on the unused bed.

Greer sighed softly to himself. He was never assigned to the scientists or civilians, and for a very good reason. He just wasn't a people person. Grabbing his radio, Greer turned back to the still open door as the professor remained lost in his head. "Colonel, this is Greer."

"Go ahead."

"I found the boy genius." Greer wasn't sure if he should say anything else. He was unsure how to even phrase it.

"Good," Young's voice sounded tired even through the radio. "Next meeting starts in seven minutes, I want him here."

Greer hesitated, glancing back at the professor. "He seems to be in the middle of something, sir."

There was a pause before Young answered him. "Well, tell him to take a break. I want both of you in the Mess in the next few minutes."

"Yes, sir."

Greer stood there for several seconds unsure of what to do. His entire conversation seemed to not have registered with the younger man, and Ronald seriously doubted that Eppes even knew that there as someone else in the room with him. A reaction like that could get him killed one day. Greer mumbled quietly to himself in annoyance as he realized what that meant. He would have to somehow break that habit of his, because the Master Sergeant owed him his life, and that was one way he could repay him. The other was getting him down to the Mess Hall before Young sent someone else to retrieve him.

"Professor Eppes," Greer tried again, nearly sighing when that garnered no reaction. Grunting in aggravation, Greer decided to just get it over with, and grabbed the man's arm before yanking him away from the wall. Charlie seemed to gaze around in a dazed fashion as Greer pulled the chalk from his limp fingers and tossed it onto the nightstand.

Hand still wrapped around the smaller man's bicep it a punishing grip, Greer twisted him around so the professor's back was to the wall. It took only seconds after that for Charlie to snap out of it. His brown eyes went from dazed and confused to shocked and scared as he registered the soldier's presence. "Wha…what are you doing?"

Greer reached behind him and ignored the flinch he received before he brandished the walky-talky. The boy genius probably thought he was reaching for a gun. He would have been amused if he wasn't so annoyed. "Do you know what this is?" The question was not quite sneered.

Charlie gazed at in trepidation, seeming to wonder if it was a trick. "A radio," he answered after a second.

"Do you know what it is used for?"

The brown eyes snapped to his own almost black ones in a glare. This, Greer did find amusing. "Of course I know what it's for?" Eppes snapped at him. Moments later, his mouth clicked shut and he face turned slightly green as his eyes danced to the only exit…the one Greer was blocking.

Good, it seemed the baby professor had some survival instinct after all. It looked like Eppes finally realized the true severity of the situation. He couldn't make it out of the room, not with the Sergeant blocking his way. And even if he could, they were at least ten corridors away from the nearest person. Even if he screamed, Greer doubted that anybody would hear him.

Greer tightened his grip as Charlie tried to step further away from him. The radio was pushed into his chest, and Eppes automatically reached up with his free hand to grab it. "The next time I call you, you fucking answer me," he glared at the other man, stepping closer into his personal space. "Got it?"

Charlie was shaking slightly in his hold, but he nodded just the same. The professor looked positively cowed and terrified, and Greer couldn't help smile at him cheerfully. "Good," and then Greer yanked on his arm pulling him out of the room before releasing his hold only long enough to place his arm around the smaller man's shoulder, hand resting on the junction where the neck met the shoulder.

"Come on, little genius!" Greer didn't quite shout, but he certainly sounded joyful. "The Colonel is waiting." Charlie felt like he was being led to his execution.

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The Kino hovered steadily in the supply room, the slightly washed out screen capturing the crates lining the walls. "Come on…" Eli begged, moving into the Kino's view. "It doesn't have to be profound. Just who you are and something you wanna say, like, uh…" he turned to the Kino, skin shining a slight blue from the overhead light. "Hi, I'm Eli Wallace. I'm twenty-five years old, I'm currently a student at CalSci and, uh…" he paused, glancing to the floor for a moment. "Just for posterity's sake I'd like to say-" face twisting into another bad Charlton Heston impersonation from his favorite movie. "'Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!'"

Grinning at the Kino, movement behind caught his attention and he flushed in embarrassment. "Yeah, but I'm not really gonna s-say that. J-just try it, say something!"

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Becker made another pass by the room, handing out bowls full of the tasteless liquid food. When Charlie received his, he glared at it, trying to calculate if the nutritional value was worth the consumption.

"It could be that Rush is just starting the fire so he can put it out," Young explained. Compared to the other group this one seemed to have almost no comradeship and not an ounce of amusement. He made a mental note to have Eli sit in on a few more; the kid had a strange way of bringing everyone together. "Or it could be that he's so far ahead of us, he can see problems that none of us can see."

Charlie continued to stare morosely at his meal before he felt his shoulder nudged by Greer's leg. Glancing up at the man who had stationed himself next to him, he frowned in confusion before the Master Sergeant mouthed 'eat it' to him. Turning his gaze back at the food, Charlie didn't dare disobey him. Scooping some up onto his spoon and shoved it in his mouth, hoping that if he swallowed fast enough, he wouldn't have to taste it. He twisted his face into disgust when it didn't work. It tasted like cardboard.

"So what do you want us to do?" Volker asked, right arm resting in a sling.

"Help him," Wray suggested, her tone of voice gentle but firm.

Volker scoffed at her, eyes darting around the room in dark humor. "The man likes to work alone."

Camile placed her elbows onto the metal table, leaning into it. She kept the annoyance out of her voice, but only just. "Well, with the way he's been treated, you can hardly blame him."

" _I_ can blame him all day long," Greer told her, playing with the food but not eating it. Charlie glanced back up at Greer, but the soldier only nudged him again to get him to eat. When the professor turned back to his bowl, he caught the Colonel's eye, only then realizing that the man had been staring at him. Dropping his head, he broke eye contact immediately and let his longer hair shield him from the other's gaze.

"It's pretty hard _not_ to, considering," Johansen added, and several others nodded their heads in agreement.

Camile felt like she was breaking up a schoolyard fight. "This isn't helpful."

"Yeah," Greer cut in, voice taking a hard edge to it. Charlie could see icy glare he sent the woman's way. It reminded him of the desert planet, when he held a gun to Rush's head. "Well, it's the truth."

Wray turned away quickly, hand fisting around her pen and teeth clenched. Young's voice broke the tension, easing his way back into the conversation before an argument could break out. "Well, we're stuck with Rush for now. Scott is checking out the other shuttle, seeing if it's operational," he turned his gaze to TJ and Ronald. "He asked that you two join him when we're done here, so off you go. Dismissed."

The group broke up fairly quickly and Greer drained that last of his food, sticking his tongue out in disgust. Charlie started to stand when a large hand settled on his shoulder before pushing him roughly back into his seat. Flinching at the harsh contact, his eyes darted back up to the soldier.

Greer just gave him a look before pointing at the young professor's half eaten rations. "Finish it!" Seconds later, Greer was following TJ out of the room. Even so, Charlie quickly picked his spoon back up at shoveled the slop in his mouth.

"Professor Eppes," the Colonel spoke from right in front of him, startling Charlie as he was scooping up the last spoonful. The elder man shuffled over to him with his gun-crutch and took a seat across from him. Charlie hastily ate the last bite before shoving his bowl aside; hands wringing together in nervousness.

"Colonel," he greeted quietly, eyes riveted onto the table. He could see that Camile Wray took the empty seat next to the soldier and that gave him some comfort.

Everett propped the gun up next to him, eyes taking in the pale and slightly shaking form of the much younger man in front of him. Sometimes he forgot that the professor was nearly twenty years his junior. "I thought you were working with Rush in the control room?"

Charlie nodded his head slowly, confused at where the questions were going. "I was, he, uh…" he trailed off, licking his lips nervously before his eyes darted up to the Colonel's. The math teacher hadn't noticed it before, but the room now consisted of the three of them at the table, and Becker in the corner washing dishes. And once again, the only way out was blocked. Charlie wondered how that kept happening to him. "Well," he continued trying to hide his nervousness. Camile smiled softly at him, and he tried to relax. He desperately wished Don was here. "He kicked me out."

"Kicked you out…" Young questioned, and Charlie was pretty sure that it was amusement that quirked his lips into not quite a smile. "I didn't know you had it in you, professor. What did you do to piss him off?" That was definitely amusement.

Charlie shook his head slowly. "I didn't…he told me to get some sleep," his voice _didn't_ sound petulant.

Everett stared at him for a moment, taking in his bruised eyes and fatigued posture. "And did you?"

The professor's eyes darted back up to him, confusion coloring his face. "Did I what?"

"Sleep, Charlie," Camile cut in, smiling at the young man with a fond look. "Did you get any sleep?" When the professor just shrugged at her, Camile sighed softly. "When was the last time you slept?" She had asked Rush a similar question not an hour before. With the alarming habits she was picking up from the scientists, she felt like it was a question she should get used to asking.

Charlie shrugged again. "Yesterday?" When Colonel Young raised an eyebrow, he tried to elaborate. "I haven't slept since the night before the _Hammond_ picked me up…"

Young stared at him, blinking in disbelief. Camile, though, just sighed again. "Charlie?" She waited until he looked at her. "That was three days ago…"

"Really?" He questioned, and Young would have found the situation humorous if it wasn't so sad. Charlie sat there silently, trying to work out the math. The _Hammond_ was nearly a full day trip to Icarus. There were on base about a half a day before it fell under attack. It was roughly three to four hours before _Destiny_ fell out of FTL and another twelve before jumping back into it. He was missing a day…had he really been working that long since the desert planet?

"Look, Charlie," Young began, choosing to go with his first name instead of title. Eli responded better to it, and from what he had observed, so did the professor. "We need to know if there is any truth to what Dr. Rush said." When the mathematician continued to stare at him blankly, Young elaborated. "The power issues, is there any truth to what said about the power."

Charlie shrugged again, uncertainty and caution lining his shoulders. "It was mine…"

Camile reached out and tapped the back of his hand. It was only then that he realized he had been fidgeting. "What was yours, Charlie?"

"The equation…it was mine," Eppes paused, eyes darting between the two. "Rush was mostly just hacking into the computer's mainframe and translating data. He then gave me the translated data and I compounded them into a singular equation based upon power consumption and distribution."

"And…" Young prompted.

Charlie sighed loudly, bringing his hands up to rub his temples before running through his hair. "If we continue as we are…" both Young and Wray watched in fascination as the professor's eyes seemed to glaze over. His lips moved softly, but no words came out, and they could see his fingers twitching on the table, as if they were about to write something. "We may have a few days left of power, probably less, but without more data I can't give you a more accurate number." They all heard the unspoken part that they needed Rush to _get_ the data.

"Okay," Young mumbled, taking in the mathematician's posture. The kid looked like he was waiting to be dismissed. A curious notion entered his brain, and he figured he might as well ask it. "What were you doing?"

"Huh?"

"When I called you and you didn't answer," Young continued. He could see that even Wray was confused. "Greer said you were in the middle of something."

"Oh, uh," Charlie seemed to flush in embarrassment before his eyes darted back to his clasped hands on the table. "Just a uh…side project," when the Colonel raised an eyebrow, Charlie continued. "I was uh…I had wondered…well…"

Camile reached out and placed a hand over his two, smiling softly at his flustered form. "It's okay, Charlie. Just tell us what it was."

Young didn't believe that it was anything bad, but the way Eppes was winding up about it, he couldn't be too sure. He watched as Charlie pulled his hands out from under Wray's gesturing to her steno pad. When she handed it over, he flipped to a blank page and ripped it out before tearing off a small corner. He crumpled the corner piece before placing it in front of himself. Tearing off another corner, he crumpled that as well, placing it right in front of Camile.

The Colonel and IOA Representative watched in mild fascination and complete confusion as Charlie then grabbed the entire sheet and crushed it into a ball. When he placed the ball about two inches away from the piece in front of himself, the professor finally looked up. "This," he pointed at the large ball, "is Earth."

"Okay," Young nodded his head slowly, prompting him to continue his strange behavior to satisfy his own curiosity. He wasn't the only one though. Everett could tell Camile was just as curious if not as confused.

"This is Icarus," now he pointed at the tiny crumpled piece just a few inches away from the larger one dubbed 'Earth'. "And that," gesturing to the one nearly three feet away in front of Camile, "is the _Destiny_."

When Charlie noticed that the others were following so far, he continued. "I know this isn't nearly to scale, if you want to get more technical, the ' _Destiny'_ would have to be a lot further away, but…it got me wondering…"

"What did?" Camile prompted him.

"When Rush dialed the Ninth Chevron address, there was a massive power surge. There had to be, in order to reach the _Destiny_. Kind of like an area code, you have to dial more numbers to get long distance, but if you were to call someone in your neighborhood, you wouldn't need the area code,"

Young listened in slight fascination, feeling kind of like he was back in high school algebra class. "So you need the extra boost to make a connection?" Everett asked and Charlie smiled at him and nodded.

"Exactly, that extra energy would have allowed us to successfully dial in and create a 100% stable wormhole."

"But Sergeant Riley said that the wormhole wasn't completely stable…" Camile trailed off, confused.

"Exactly, because the wormhole was being fed massive amounts of energy from the planet's core due to instability. That energy combined with the distance created a nearly, but not quite stable wormhole. The extra energy only compromising it to a small degree because of the number of galaxies it had to bypass. Now, you take that energy," here he placed his finger near 'Icarus' before drawing a line to _'Destiny'_. "And you translate that to here," finger traveling the much smaller distance to 'Earth'. "You are left with a lot of left over energy that isn't needed and has nowhere to go."

"Your point being…" Young asked.

"My point," Charlie continued, "is that the energy doesn't just disappear, it has to go somewhere."

"Charlie?" Camile asked, understanding beginning to set in and Young could see her eyes widen in shock. "What would have happened if we had dialed Earth?"

Charlie gave her a kind of sad look, before he picked up his hand and slammed it onto the table. The loud noise made Camile jump, but Young barely twitched. When the professor lifted his hand, only a flattened 'Earth' remained behind. It was then that Everett realized what the other man had been trying to tell them. If they had dialed Earth, the consequences would have been of apocalyptic proportions.

Swallowing passed the lump forming in his throat, Young questioned him uncertainly. "How sure are you?" Charlie's dark brown eyes just stared back at him and Young nodded his head in understanding. "Okay," sighing, he scrubbed a hand across his face tiredly. "Go get some rest Charlie. When you get up, meet with me before returning to the control interface room. That's an order."

Charlie took that as the dismissal it was and darted out of the room. Young sighed heavily before turning to Camile. She looked pale as her eyes were still riveted on the crushed 'Earth'. "As much as I don't want to, I believe we owe Rush an apology." Young smiled at her when she chuckled. "Okay, are there any more groups or are we finished for the day?"

Wray smiled in gratitude at the topic change. "We still have the question of what to do with the senator's body."

"Yeah," he nodded slowly before standing, knuckles white as he gripped his 'cane'. "We'll get to him. He's not going anywhere. I'd appreciate a file on everyone by some time tomorrow. Nothing fancy."

"And my assignment, sir?" Becker questioned as Young started to limp out of the Mess Hall.

"Recipes, Becker. For the love of God, recipes!"

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Lieutenant James sat in front of the Kino, eyes darting around to make sure Eli had left the room like he said he would. Gazing back at the Kino, she sighed before speaking.

"Second Lieutenant Vanessa James. Twenty-six. Air Force Special Forces. All I have to say is…" pausing, she checked again to see if anyone would hear her. Plaintively she continued. "I don't wanna die out here."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Young limped slowly down the hallway, gun making a thunk noise every time it hit the ground. "Colonel," Wray didn't quite shout, jogging to catch up with him.

"Thought we were done."

She fell into step with him easily. "There's still dozens of human resources issues we need to talk about." She started flipping through the pages on her steno pad.

"Pick one," Young panted, exhausted and in pain. He continued down the hall, forcing her to fall into his pace or get left behind.

"The matter of Lieutenant Johansen resigning her commission," Camile read from the top of her list, voice not sharp but just nearly.

"Consider her reactivated."

"Well, I don't know if that's up to-"

"Up to me?" Young interrupted. "Yeah, it is. We need a medic."

Turning her attention back to her papers, she continued on the topic. "I don't even know why she resigned in the first place."

Young rolled his eyes. "Well, it's none of _my_ business."

He continued on as she stopped, looking at his back thoughtfully. She watched him until he turned a corner, before she made her way to what she was calling her office. Young made it down two more corridors before he was stopped again.

"Colonel," Sergeant Riley called out, drawing him over. "Look what we figured out!" Young made his way over to Hunter and several civilians; they had an alarming amount of the crew's battery operated equipment. "We're calling it a recharging plate."

Riley held up a flashlight, pressing the on-off switch spastically. The batteries were clearly dead as the light never came on. "Uh-huh," Young prompted.

Riley turned to the plate that looked like a counter top imbedded into the wall. Standing the flashlight on it, he twiddled with a few nobs as the low hum of electricity filled the silence. "We've tweaked it so it works with Earth technology. For now we have to be careful not to leave them on the plate for too long or it fries the battery, but..." he switched the device off and the hum died out. When he grabbed the flashlight and pressed the switch again, the torch lit up brightly. "Not bad, huh?"

Young smiled at him. "It's great."

"Isn't it!" Riley's enthusiasm affected the entire group and everyone was smiling jovially.

"Turn it off," Young told him before he could charge another object.

Hunter turned to him confused. "Why?"

"Rush says we have power issues."

Gesturing to all the other equipment they've gathered, the Sergeant frowned. "We've got all these things to recharge."

"I know," Young told him solemnly, hating to break up the good mood. "But as soon as he gives the go-ahead, you kids can go crazy. For now," he turned to leave, raising his voice to get the point across. "Help me pass the word to stop pushing buttons."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Matt sat comfortably in the pilot seat of the shuttle. He was slowly working out how the controls worked, having had little experience with the Ancient language. Poking the end of a pencil onto a button, two panels lowered from the ceiling right above his head. Even more buttons, knobs, and switches were presented and he sighed in annoyance.

Grabbing his thin piece of paper, he placed it over the button he had just pressed and started to rub the pencil over the symbol in order to get an exact trace of it. The sound of footsteps drew his attention and he saw TJ and Greer approaching the entrance. They both stopped cautiously at the door, hesitant to step further into the shuttle.

"It's cool, guys," Scott smiled at them, amused. "This one's secure."

They both glanced at him before crossing the threshold and approaching him at the front of the small shuttle.

"You think you can fly this thing, man?" TJ asked, amazed.

"I can fly an F-302."

"Yeah," Greer chuckled. "In a simulator! This is a real spaceship, man."

"Yes it is," the Lieutenant sighed. Greer and TJ both wandered around the ship, taking in the view outside and the alien symbols inside. Scott cleared his throat before saying what they all were feeling. "So, pretty screwed up, huh?"

"Yeah," she agreed, nodding slowly at the understatement. Her voice turned into just a whisper but they could all still hear it. "Yeah, pretty screwed up."

"You think they're gonna work it out?" Greer questioned, the uneasiness making his voice shake.

"Well, we're pretty frickin' far from home, man. I don't know," Matt shook his head. "Not today," glancing over at TJ, he gazed at her in a combination of confusion and pity. "You should have shipped out weeks ago, T.J. It's not right."

"It ain't right at all." Greer agreed.

"Yeah, well," Johansen turned her gaze to the ground before continuing. "I'm here, so what do you want us to do?"

Scott let her change the subject, getting up from the seat and moving stuff around. "Help me figure out what kind of bird we've got here. I just radioed Brody to come down and help translate the controls. It took me half an hour just to find the "on" switch." TJ chuckled quietly to herself. "Maybe we can take a little joyride, huh?"

"Oh joy!" She mumbled sarcastically.

Greer and Scott shared a look before they both gazed at her back.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Chloe stalked down the corridors seemingly with a single minded purpose. Eli strode quickly after her, sweating a little from the exertion. "You don't have to follow me around," she told him, pausing at an intersection, settling on the one to the left.

"What do you mean?" Eli questioned her.

"I mean that I'm okay," she seemed to sigh the last word.

"Oh. Thank God you said something, 'cause I thought that you were following _me_ around and it was about to get awkward!"

Eli turned to head down another corridor, but stopped as soon as Chloe turned back to look at him. He smiled in a self-satisfied way when she huffed and grabbed his arm, pulling him in the direction she had been going.

"I don't mind the company," she continued, laying a hand on his shoulder. "I just don't wanna keep you from anything important."

"Oh, I am _done_ with important. I'm taking the day off from important!" His hands gestured about widely and Chloe smiled at him.

"You should!"

"So should you."

Chloe laughed in a self-deprecating manner, arms flailing out to her sides before falling limp. "Me? I don't even know what to do with myself, Eli. I'm the last person who should be here.

"I'm second to last!" He scoffed.

She turned to him, still trudging down the halls like she was on a mission. "You're under-estimating yourself."

"So are you," Eli assured her.

She smiled at him appreciatively. Eli always knew exactly what to say to make her feel better. An idea came to her mind then and she stopped walking…she knew exactly what would make her feel better. "Can you show me how to use that shower you were talking about?"

He paused, surprised. "Yes!" Eli tried not to gulp. "Yes, I can."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Rush stood at another control panel, this one hooked directly to the interface. A loud thunk-thunk noise of metal hitting metal made him turn around. Young limped into the room, bracing himself heavily on the rifle. From his posture, Nicholas knew that he had to be in a lot of pain. Bracing himself for the argument he knew would ensue, Rush turned to face away from him.

"Scott's checking out the shuttle, seeing if it's operational. Everyone else is holding the work until you give the green light."

Rush nodded his head, eyes riveted on his screen. "Thank you," he mumbled as Young stopped beside him, not in his personal space, but close.

Silence stretched across the room for a few moments before Young sighed. "Look, I want you to know that I'm well aware that in the field of Ancient technology, you're pretty much…and any other subject I can think of…you're the best I've got," he paused as Rush snorted at him. "But we can't be working at cross-purposes."

"All I ask," Rush began, Highland accent becoming thicker with fatigue and stress. "Is that you check with me before issuing orders."

"Check with you?" Young laughed. "No, see, you've got it backwards. If you're doing something, I wanna know what it is, and this is not a request."

"Done!" Rush snapped irritably, rubbing his brow before gesturing frantically. "Fine! I'll tell you everything."

Young continued like Rush hadn't interrupted him. "If there is an issue that affects everybody on this ship, like we're running out of power-"

Rush sighed heavily before replying in a dark sarcastic tone. "I think I already told you that."

The Colonel ground his teeth together to get his temper back in line. "I'm not here to snipe your back or piss you off, but if we're gonna be on this ship for any length of time, we need to be on the same page."

"I think our length of time together on _Destiny_ may be shorter than you think."

"Okay," Young didn't quite smile.

"Uh-huh!"

"I get it," for the first time, Young turned to face the scientist completely. "Who can I bring in to help? And before you say Professor Eppes, note that he is resting under my orders."

Rush let out a whoosh of air, shaking his head in frustration. "Honestly? It may take longer than we've got to bring someone else up to speed."

The Colonel raises his hand before slapping it down on the console, signifying a done deal. "Volker it is."

"Perfect!" Rush sniped sarcastically. "Terrific!"

Turning to leave the room, Young shifted to talk over his shoulder. "You can tell him to sit on his hands if you want to."

Rush buried his head in his hands, digging his fingers into his hair in a mixture of frustration, anger, and exhaustion.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

The Kino's screen was fuzzy for a moment before focusing clearly on the man before it. "Spencer. Sergeant. I'm thirty-one. All I wanna say is: I never asked for this. All I want is...to get off this ship."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Chloe stood in the shower cubicle, hair tied up in a bun with a few strands sticking to her face. A mist enveloped her from the shower and Eli tried desperately not to look. He had his back turned towards her, but it took almost more than he had not to look over his shoulder.

"What's it feel like?" He asked her.

"What?" Chloe didn't quite yell, running her hands along her shoulder to clean off the sweat that had built up.

"What's it feel like on your...bare skin?" Eli's face heated in embarrassment but he was proud that he hadn't stuttered.

"It's really warm!"

"Yeah?"

"Eli," Lieutenant James snapped, making Eli jump in surprise.

He turned to her, startled and defensive. "I'm just standing guard! Anybody could walk in! I...What?"

She turned to glance at Chloe before shrugging. "Uh, whatever. I need to talk to you."

"Um..."

Stepping closer to him, Vanessa smiled up at him alluringly. "Alone," she murmured. "It's important."

Eli gazed down at her, making sure his eyes didn't stray below her nose before glancing in the direction of the shower. "Wow, I am so torn," he whispered quietly to himself.

"Chloe," James called out, turning to look at the showering woman. "I'm gonna take Eli for a minute. That all right with you?"

"Okay," Chloe replied.

Vanessa turned back to Eli, jerking her head to get him to follow while smiling. Eli glanced over back at Chloe before looking away quickly. "I'll check back with you later, okay?" When Chloe didn't bother to answer, Eli mumbled another okay before following Vanessa.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Volker walked slowly into the interface room, dragging his feet even as the lights flicker on and off for several seconds. He could hear Rush sigh despairingly before it stopped.

"Hey. Heard you could use a helper," Dale tried to be cheerful.

"Well, you heard wrong." Rush didn't even bother to look at him.

"Yeah," Volker murmured, stopping at the threshold before taking a hesitant step closer. "Young said not to take 'no' for an answer."

"If he wanted to be helpful, he would have sent Charlie or Eli instead."

"Well, thank you for that, uh, but Charlie is sleeping and Eli's a kid really and I'm an astrophysicist-"

"Mr. Volker," Rush interrupted, turning to look at him. "I neither need nor want your help, all right?" He didn't spare him another glance before going back to the console and his notes.

Volker stared at him for a minute before mustering his courage. "Look, he's just gonna drag me right back in here and you know it." Rush rubbed his brow in frustration before nodding in reluctant acknowledgement. "Come on," Dale encouraged.

"Right. I'm concerned that _Destiny_ is on the verge of losing power. Look for yourself," when Volker walked closer to the console, Rush pointed to another nearby without looking at him.

Rolling his eyes, Dale diverted to the other one in annoyance. "The ship's been flying around for the better part of a million years."

"I know."

"So I don't understand why, all of a sudden-"

Rush didn't bother letting him finish that sentence. "When we showed up and started _doing_ things, how about that?" He snapped.

"Like what?"

"Dialing back to Earth, for one," his Scottish lilt laced his venomous words with anger.

"Oh, come on, we had to try," when Rush only sighed, Volker continued. "What kind of window, man? We're flying faster than the speed of light. How close to the end of a rope can we be?"

"You're obviously not capable of seeing the signs."

"Okay," he muttered, insulted. "Well, speaking of signs, when was the last time you slept?"

"Look," Rush snapped. "If you know what you're looking for, there are clear indications that power is being channeled into life support and away from the-"

"How can you know that?" Volker interrupted him. "We're still completely locked out of the core systems."

"Out!" Gesturing angrily to the door, Rush seemed to bark the word.

"Okay, I'll...Forget I said anything." Volker said complacently.

" _Now_!"

"No, I'll just work quietly."

"Well, it's too bloody late for that, isn't it?" Rush shouted at him, gesticulating wildly with his hands. "I _told_ him you'd be a waste of time! A waste of time that we can ill afford. If you can't see the signs staring you in the face, then you're no good to me! _Get out!_ "

Hurt, Volker swallowed heavily before leaving the room. He felt crushed at the words, but couldn't bring himself to argue back with the man. Rush turned back to his console, words blurring as his headache throbbed behind his eyes.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Eli followed Lieutenant James down the corridor, confused but curious at what she could want. She turned down another hall before walking through a door. He followed her in before halting near the threshold. Over a dozen people were waiting inside. The whirring noise of the door had him glancing backwards before he noticed that he was shut in.

A bald, much larger soldier came to stand in front of the now closed exit and Eli could feel his heart pounding. "Look," Vanessa told him as Eli glanced around the room nervously. "We just wanna talk."

Eli shuffled closer to her, lowering his voice to whisper. "You said 'alone'."

"Well, how else was I supposed to get you out of there?"

"What's going on, Eli?" Spencer, the soldier who had blocked the door, walked over to him, rubbing his hands together.

"You mean right now?" Eli questioned anxiously, moving further towards the observation windows so no one was behind him.

"Don't be an idiot," James snapped at him.

"Wow, you _must_ be getting to know me, because I respond really well to that!" He replied sarcastically, wishing he had the forethought to ask for a radio. He could desperately use some back up right now. Matt would know what to do.

Riley sighed before approaching the scared man. "We can't get a straight answer from anybody about whether or not we're going to make it back to Earth."

Confused, Eli's gaze darted to those boxing him in. "I don't think anybody knows."

"They don't know, or won't tell us?" James asked.

Scoffing, the math student replied in a sarcastic tone. "I'm pretty sure if they knew, they would tell you."

"They'd tell _you_ ," Spencer told him, stepping into the other's personal space.

"Me? Are you serious?"

"Yeah, we are, Eli," Spencer's voice dropped lower. "You're on the inside. You're Eppes' student. Rush needs you. The Colonel's lookin' out for you."

"Okay," Eli through his hands up in exasperation. "Tell you what. _If_ they tell me, then I'll tell _you_!"

"That's all we ask." Riley said, keeping calm.

Glancing around, he watched as others nodded in acceptance. "That's it? Great! This has been good! I think, as a group, we've bonded!" Eli sniped rolling his eyes.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Volker shuffled his feet into the room that Colonel Young had claimed as his office. It was a large space, larger then crew quarters by at least half, and had a certain homey feel to it. At the end of the room, directly in line of site of the doors was the desk that Young was sitting behind. To his left was a couch in good condition for the age it must have been. The furniture looked old and had to have been on the ship when it first set sail from Earth.

Young muttered quietly to himself as he filled out another list of supplies that they desperately needed. The pen in his hand was held at an awkward angle due to the broken pinkie and ring fingers that were taped together. Everett looked up as the sound of feet met his ears and he laughed ironically at the sight before him.

"You-you've gotta be kidding me."

"Oh no," Volker shook his head.

"You were in there five minutes."

Nodding slowly, Dale winced at the memory. "He kicked me out."

"What-what's the matter with you? You're a grown man," Young asked, truly curious. Eppes had lasted for two days after all, only getting kicked out when fatigue started to affect his work.

"I know that! But he said, 'Out!'" Volker didn't quite yell.

"Well, what the hell did you say to the man?" Everett questioned, setting his pen down and folding his hands together.

Waving his one good arm around, Dale ground his teeth together and ranted at the soldier seated before him. "I didn't say _anything_! I was just trying to figure out what his problem was."

"It's _our_ problem, Volker, it's not just his," Young interrupted. "I need you to get your ass back in there-"

Cutting him off, the scientist forced himself to calm down. "I'm telling you, he's gone crazy."

"Well, we already knew that. Go."

"This isn't the old crazy," he argued, trying to get the other to understand. "This is a whole _new_ crazy."

"Would you like me to hold your hand, is that it? Is that what you need me to do?"

Shaking his head in annoyance, Volker tried to reason with him. "Come on, Colonel, I'm trying here-"

"All right," Everett interrupted again. Pushing himself up from the chair and grabbing his gun-crutch, he started towards the door. "Here we go. Let's do this. I'll take you there myself. Oh, for God's sake, Volker. If you people can't stand up to the son of a bitch-"

Whatever he was going to say was soon forgotten because the lights flickered before completely dying and Young could hear the engines powering down as _Destiny_ dropped out of FTL. The ship went dark.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"Did you do that, Rush?" Young questioned as he entered the interface control room, Volker following behind obediently.

Rush turned towards them, laughing bitterly. "Is that what you think? No! No, I didn't," he took a breath as Young came to stand next to him. "But I had been standing here for the past few minutes watching systems fail _all_ over the ship…and there's nothing that I could do to stop that. The FTL drive was amongst the last to go."

"We could be in range of a Stargate," Volker added as Young flashed his torch around to see the rest of the room.

Nicholas laughed darkly, finding little actual humor in the situation. Pointing to the scientist, he turned his attention to the Colonel. "You see what I mean?" Turning back to Volker, he addressed him in a condescending tone. "No, there's no countdown."

Young's flashlight lit up the clock, but there were no numbers on display. "Well, there's gotta be emergency reserves."

"I don't think you seem to understand what's going on here, Colonel," Rush approached him, his mouth twisted into more of a sneer then a smile. "Our 'reserves' are gone. _All_ of our power is gone."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

The flashlight Eli was holding and the occasional emergency lights in the background were the only things allowing the Kino to focus on Volker. The scientist was gazing at the floor in thought before his eyes captured the Kino's camera.

"Uh, Doctor Dale Volker. I'm thirty-four years old and, despite what you may or may not have heard from a certain Scottish person, I like to think that I'm a pretty fine astrophysicist. I mean, they don't send you to work on solving the mysteries of the universe on other planets if you're a hack, right? So...that's all I have to say."

He nodded to Eli who was off screen and the light started to move off his face, but then he started talking again and Eli was quick to illuminate him. "I mean, we can't all be Mozarts, right? Some of us are...Salieris. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I-I like Salieri. I find his music is, uh...it's, uh...it's soothing," Dale pointed to one side as if to gesture towards Rush. "I'm not suggesting that he's Mozart either...although Mozart did go a little nuts, didn't he? All right, I'm done."

Once again, just as the light left him, he began talking and Eli sighed off camera before bringing the light back. "He's maybe a Schubert, at best, or an Elgar." Silence followed the last statement before Volker turned to the one controlling the Kino. "I'm done, Eli."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Franklin walked quickly out of his quarters, watching as everyone milled about in the hallways, congregating around those with flashlights. He caught sight of Wallace walking by and tried to stop him. "The lights went off in my compartment."

"Yeah!" Eli nearly shouted, not bothering to slow down. "It's the same all over."

"Well, why?"

Frustrated, he threw his hands up in annoyance. " _Why_ does everybody think I know everything?"

Eli dodged around another soldier before he heard Chloe shouting his name from the shower room. Breaking into a run, he raced towards the direction of her voice while being carefully not to run into anything in the dark.

"Eli! _Eli!_ " Chloe shouted as she tried to get the towel sorted out so she could dry herself.

"Chloe?" Eli ran in, skidding to halt and turning away as he realized she was naked.

Pulling the towel around herself, she hunched over so he couldn't see anything. "Not funny, Eli!"

"It wasn't me! We had a power failure or something! I was on my way to go-"

She interrupted him before he could start ranting. "Well, I'm freezing and I can't see."

There was a moment of silence before an idea popped into his head. "Wait, wait." Pulling his phone out of his pocket he pushed a few buttons to get the screen to light up. "You want me to help…" he mumbled before the flashlight program activated. He shined the light towards her but accidently looked as well. "Ooh!" Eli quickly looked away again. "Sorry! Sorry!"

Chloe just rolled her eyes before grabbing her underwear and pulling them on. "Everything just stuck and went pitch black. I completely freaked."

"Yeah, we heard. How was the shower?"

"It was fine. Thanks for asking. Look, just go find out what's going on. I'm okay."

Eli shuffled sideways towards her, making sure to keep his eyes averted. He offered her the phone, pointedly not looking. "Here, here, it's something anyway," when she took the phone he turned his back to her. "Don't make any long distance phone calls!"

"Thanks," Chloe watched as he hurried out of the room. "Eli!"

The math student instantly rushed back in again. "Yeah!" He met her eyes, but looked quickly away.

"Wait for me," she asked plaintively.

"Sure!" He smiled at her, both amused and happy.

There was a long stretch of silence before Chloe snapped at him. "Turn around!"

"Sure!" Eli quickly turned his back to her yet again, as he waited patiently for her to get dressed.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Young limped heavily behind Rush, Volker following a little further back. Dale reminisced on his parents when they used to fight as the lead scientist and the Colonel were arguing. It both amused and frightened him. "So it wasn't anything you did?" Young questioned, forcing the words out through the pain.

"Since I arrived, I have been unable to access _any_ of the core systems…power, navigation _or_ propulsion," Rush snapped at him, rubbing the junction where his neck met his shoulder.

"Why didn't you bring anybody else in on this?"

Rush turned to him, shouting in a thick accent. "Because aside from Eppes, I'm the only qualified person!"

"You see, this is what I'm talking about," Young bit out, frustrated.

Volker added, hesitant to come between the two quarreling men. "Maybe it's like a Lantean device…you need the Ancient gene to access the-"

Rush cut Volker off quickly. " _Destiny_ pre-dates that technology."

"D'you know that for a fact?" Young questioned, increasing his pace in order to catch up with Rush who had been steadily pulling away from them.

Rounding on him furiously, Nicholas gesticulated wildly with his arms and shouted at the other man. " _Yes_ , Colonel. I know many _many_ things for a fact! I know you asked Gorman to poke around in the weapons systems, for a fact. I know you have ordered teams of people all over the ship to do things that they know nothing about, for a fact!"

He turned and stormed away, Young and Volker following quickly after him. "Right. You think all those things add up to this, Rush? Does that make sense to you?"

Rush jogged up to the nearest Stargate console, tapping furiously on the buttons and screen. "Look! _Look_!" He gestured angrily at the console as it remained completely inactive. "No, you're right. You are right," Nicholas shouted, pointing at the Colonel as he moved further into the room. Young followed him while Volker decided that the safest place was to stay behind the console where the smaller man couldn't strangle him. "It was your reckless, _pointless_ attempt to dial Earth that robbed me of the time I needed to solve this problem!"

"Maybe we're just missing something," Everett spoke quietly, trying to get Rush to calm down.

" _Yes_! The opportunity of a lifetime…because you wouldn't listen to me!" He continued to shout before his face crumpled in anguish and he turned around. Putting his face in his hands, Rush looked as if he was about to cry and Young couldn't figure out if he was going to massage his temples or pull out his hair.

Grabbing the radio, Young spoke quietly into it as Rush continued to rant. "TJ, this is Young. I could use a medic in the Gate Room."

Everett watched Rush warily as the other man began to pace around the room, hand once again clutching at his neck. "I refuse to be held responsible for this situation!"

"Nobody's blaming you," Young tried to placate the other man.

"I ran out of time!"

"We can fix this," Young argued.

"'Fix this'!" Rush shouted, nearly apoplectic with rage as he approached the Colonel, getting right into his face. "What, you think just because you give the order that it's possible? _There is no more power! Destiny_ saved every last ounce of its reserves for life support…and I've seen it happening," he moved away again, and Young moved towards him worried. "I've seen it being sequestered away from me. I tried to...I tried to stop it. I tried to stop it but I couldn't!"

"Rush..." Young moved just out of reaching distance, anxious, but trying to keep calm.

"In a few days' time, this..." Rush clutched his hand to his head in pain. "...this ship will go dark. It will go dark and cold..." Nicholas stumbled and Everett lunged for him as the man crumpled to the floor. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was Young's worried face.

Dropping his flashlight, Young barely kept the man from bashing his head into the floor. "Rush!" He shouted, falling to his knees and lowering the man gently onto the metal. "Rush!" The Colonel heard Volker running over to him as he activated his radio. "TJ, _now_!"

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

The camera on the Kino showed static for less than a second before Riley's face appeared. Once activated, the young man moved to sit on the stool and the Kino focused in on his form. "Okay, I'm Sergeant Hunter Riley. I'm, uh, one day short of my thirtieth birthday. Um, I grew up on a farm. I have relatives who've never even left the state, and here I am halfway across the universe, so…no regrets." His face, however, showed sadness.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

_Destiny_ moved slowly through space, dark except for the occasional emergency light that did little to illuminate the shadows. Even with flashlights it was hard to see. Colonel Young flashed his torch around the interface control room, doctors and scientists milling around him.

"So..." Everett's voice cut through the silence.

"Rush was right. Everything but life support is dead," Volker answered the unasked question, moving closer to Brody as he was uneasy in the lack of light.

Young sighed, wishing for better news. "Why now? Why just when we show up?"

" _Because_ we just showed up," Charlie told him, standing next to the seated Eli.

"There's the Stargate," Brody added. "It's a power hog and we had it on all day yesterday."

"There's still _some_ power and the shields are still working to some degree but..." Dale didn't know how to finish that thought.

Thankfully Brody cut in. "Again, that's to keep us alive."

"For how long?"

Brody scrubbed a hand down his face. "We're gonna have to wait for Rush to wake up for an answer to that one."

When Young turned his attention to Charlie, the young professor just shook his head in a negative. Eppes still didn't know enough Ancient to root through the systems to find an answer. If only Rush had translated more data they would know where they stood. "T.J. says he's not gonna be up for a while. So…where does that leave us?"

Brody looked at Volker. "Dead."

"Dead," Dale agreed.

Young turned to Charlie and Eli seeking confirmation and hoping for a different answer. "Not right away," Eli told him.

"Yeah," Volker cut in. "We have days…maybe a lot of days, but if there's no Stargate in range-"

"...and there's not..." Eli almost sounded nonchalant about it, but Charlie knew that he was thinking around the problem.

"We don't have the power to dial out, anyway," Brody added, sounding annoyed.

"So it's a race between food, water and life support," Volker tried not to sound to despairing, but he was out of ideas.

Young shook his head in disbelief. It _couldn't_ end this way. "I don't buy that."

"We can't do anything without access to the ship's systems. Look," Dale didn't quite yell as he poked around at the various control panels, looking completely unsurprised when nothing happened. "I could stand here all day."

Young turned away from him, gaze traveling to the student-teacher pair. Eli was playing with the Kino remote while Charlie stood over his shoulder in interest. "Eli, Charlie?" His voice rasped, slightly dry from the water rations that were again restricted as of this morning.

Eli looked up, startled. "I put a Kino in a search mode and sent it into unpressurised areas of the ship, looking for an active console somewhere. Nothing yet. Also, Professor Eppes is looking into if there's any way we could integrate the shuttle's power with the ship's system...?" He asked it as a question, turning to his professor for confirmation. Eppes nodded his head, seemingly lost in the numbers again. It was a long shot, they all knew, but it couldn't hurt to try.

"So you two are working the problem," Young didn't quite ask.

"Yeah!"

The Colonel turned and gave both Brody and Volker a pointed look. They both looked flustered and embarrassed. "Do baby professor and his computer-hacking student have to save our asses?"

Eli raised his hand indignantly. "The computer-hacker is still here," he turned to his teacher but Charlie only gave him an amused look. Charlie was young for his profession, he knew that. It didn't help that he looked even younger. But he had heard everything before, and there was nothing that anyone could say that hadn't already been said. Frankly, at this point, he just found it humorous.

Young ignored him, choosing instead to continue addressing the two senior scientists who had been trained for the Stargate program for the last five to ten years. "Or are _you_ gonna get your heads out of yours?"

The two men exchanged a glance before they both dropped their gazes to the floor. After a moment of embarrassment and self-pity, Brody turned back to the Colonel. "The shuttle idea's pretty good."

"Yeah," Volker added, not meeting the soldier's gaze. "There might be a workaround."

Young stared at them for a moment. "Well, let's do that." Seconds later, the two men had vacated the room, hopefully trying to solve the problem. Charlie turned and left also, going in the opposite direction, already completely lost in the numbers. Young noticed that he looked a little better, not much, seeing as he probably only got a few hours of sleep before Brody woke him after Rush's freak out, but it was something at least. He made a mental note to have Greer chase him down at dinner time. According to Becker, the young man hadn't shown up for either breakfast or lunch…again.

"Thank you, Eli," Everett turned to leave.

"Uh," Eli's hesitant voice stopped him. Young turned back slowly, gesturing for him to continue. "W-why did you call him that?" When he only raised a questioning eyebrow, Eli elaborated. "He's not that young you know?"

The Colonel smiled slightly, corner of his lips turning up just a little. "He's younger than you."

Wallace spluttered for a few seconds, looking gob smacked. "Re-really!"

Young chuckled lightly. "By two years."

"...huh. I never thought to ask…"

Young cleared his throat before changing the subject. "Go do something. I'm gonna be gone for a few hours."

"Gone?" Eli asked, confused.

"To report this mess. If you need me, yank me back."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

The Kino's screen flickered on before focusing on the slightly sunburned face before it. Scott's eyes were trained off screen to Eli as he sat upon the crate that was sturdy enough to be substituted as a chair. "What, is it on?" Matt turned to the Kino after receiving a mumbled affirmative. "Lieutenant Matthew Scott. Twenty-six years old...and..." he turned back to Eli, questioning. "...I'd like to say a prayer for all of us, if that's okay."

Eli's voice came from off screen as the Kino flickered in and out before focusing again on Matt. "Sure, yeah. Whatever you want."

Eyes closed, Scott began. "The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me to still waters..."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Colonel David Telford strode the halls of the Pentagon quickly, a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the day's newspaper in the other. He reached the communication room in no time, where the stones were kept and constantly online. "I'll take it from here, Peter."

"Again?" Peter questioned, truly surprised.

"What can I say? I'm a glutton for punishment," Telford shrugged before taking a sip of his coffee.

"Okay," Peter replied, folding the sports section back up before vacating the room.

Settling into the chair, Telford placed the paper in his lap and the coffee on the table before touching the communication stone on top of the control box to align it to himself. He took a drink from his mug before picking the newspaper back up to read.

David expected another long, inactive night…just like the last few. But it was only moments later that a connection was made and Telford found himself once again on the unfamiliar ship, _Destiny_. He took a deep breath, looking around the room to adjust himself to the new surroundings.

David started to stand before he groaned loudly in pain. He grabbed his - _no Everett's-_ sore ribs and then his back. Even his hand hurt. He straightened slowly before looking at his right hand, furthest two fingers appeared to be broken, before a handwritten note caught his eye. It was lying directly in eyesight, unobstructed on the desk. It read, 'USE THE CRUTCH' and had an arrow pointing to the left.

The rifle was propped up against the table, the only thing in sight of the arrow and clearly the 'crutch' that Colonel Young meant. Telford sighed, before he picked up the gun-crutch, and hobbled out of the room. It took some getting used to, every nerve in his body screaming at the pain, but he pushed through it and made it out of the room.

Telford stopped in the corridor, gazing around in confusion as darkness surrounded him. Just as he was preparing to call for someone on the radio, Riley approached him. "What's going on, Sergeant?"

Riley gave him a confused look before replying. "Actually, I was coming to ask _you_."

Telford paused, confused; before he remembered as he gazed at his own uniform…it said 'YOUNG'. He realized then that Riley thought him to be their Colonel, and he was quick to rectify that. "Colonel Young went back to report. I'm Colonel Telford. I'd like to speak with Doctor Rush immediately."

"Oh. Uh, well," Riley was uncertain how to reply to that before he settled on the unabridged truth. "He's had a nervous breakdown, sir."

There was nearly a full minute of silence before Telford could get that thought to sink into his brain. Rush had a breakdown? "What?"

"But I can take you to Lieutenant Scott. He's in the shuttle," Riley turned his flashlight on before leading Telford away.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Peterson stood outside of the General's office, waiting patiently as Colonel Young, in Telford's body, updated O'Neill on their situation. They had been in there for several minutes, and Peterson was preparing himself to wait for an hour or so when the door opened. Colonel Young stepped out, looking frustrated, sad, and exhausted.

"Wow, that was quick," he said, smiling as he tried to break the tension.

Young sighed, looking around wearily before replying. "Doesn't take very long to say, 'We're screwed'," A hand came up and rubbed his face. Just his expression alone conveyed how serious the situation was.

Peterson looked down at the floor, feeling a mixture of emotions. Some of his friends were on the _Destiny_ , and he couldn't even begin to imagine what they were going through. "I'm sorry, sir. Wish there was something we could do."

Young turned to him before looking at his watch, calculating how much time he had left before he was needed back. He didn't want to leave Telford on the ship with his people for too long…because that was what they were: _his_ people. They had embarked on this disastrous journey together, they had survived for just over three days on the ship together…and now it seemed they were all going to die together.

Pulling his thoughts away from the dark turn it had taken, Young calculated that the damage Colonel Telford could cause aboard the _Destiny_ if left for two more hours could be easily fixed. Besides, there was something he wanted to do before it was too late. "There is."

The drive took longer than he remembered, but not long enough in his opinion. Nearly forty minutes in the car and he still had no idea what he was going to say. Everett exited the vehicle quickly, stopping at the curb and standing in an awkward parade rest. Peterson walked past him, either not noticing his apprehension, or more likely choosing not to notice it. "I'll shout down when she's ready to see you."

Young stood on the sidewalk for several seconds, watching Peterson leave to explain to his wife what she was about to see. He turned to close the door behind him and the reflection caught him by surprise. It was Telford's face in the window…and he didn't know what to feel about that.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

TJ fiddled with the lamp for a moment before pulling it close to her face, illuminating it in stark contrast to the darkness around her. She inhaled sharply before turning to the Kino, preparing for what could be her last recorded words. "Lieutenant Tamara Johansen. I'm a paramedic. I actually quit my job a few weeks ago. I shouldn't even be here," she gives a humorless chuckle before continuing. "To think I could have missed all of this."

Her voice didn't break or catch, but her eyes shown wetly before the Kino's screen went black.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Young moved to the gates when Peterson walked back to the car. Not a word was exchanged between them, and Young was too frazzled to really care. He passed the brick columns before he saw her, Emily, standing there on the porch, doorway open behind her, looking confused and awkward. Everett hadn't ever seen her more beautiful.

"Hey, Emily," Young smiled, walking closer. When he was within reaching distance, he moved to embrace her, but she put her hand on his chest and backed into the house. "No, don't. I said that you could come in, but that's all."

"Okay," he mumbled, trying to smile through the pain. After a moment, he moved reluctantly around her to walk inside. Everett knew going into this that it wasn't going to be pleasant for either of them. He just prayed that she could forgive him.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Telford, in Young's body, limped slowly after Sergeant Riley, being careful not to trip on anything. Even with the flashlight and emergency backup lighting it was far too dark to see properly. It took nearly twenty minutes with their slow pace to reach the shuttle. Telford could feel Young's body aching more with each step.

Riley stopped at the threshold, waiting for orders, and Telford turned to him, nodding his head in dismissal before the younger man left him there. David turned his gaze to those inside, watching Scott, Greer, Johansen, Brody, and that young professor Rush seemed intent on bringing into the program. Professor Eppes, he remembered.

"Scott, Johansen..." Telford beckoned them with a raised hand. "A word, please." They made their way over quickly, passing the other three. "There's no power except for the shuttle?"

They both frowned before sharing a strange look. "Sir, you already know that," Lieutenant Scott sounded worried.

TJ, on the other hand, gazed at Colonel Young in confusion before realizing what had happened. "Matt, this is Colonel Telford."

"That's right," he confirmed. "Now, would either of you two officers care to explain how Colonel Young managed to let things fall apart so fast?"

Scott could feel anger rising up as his loyalty to Young made him defensive. "There-there was no way of knowing this was gonna happen-"

"You're saying Rush didn't see it coming?" Telford interrupted. When they both remained silent, David nodded his head slowly. "That's what I thought. I wanna know what's _really_ going on aboard this ship."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Emily was pacing back and forth across the living room and Everett could feel himself starting to get dizzy. It took surprisingly little amount of time to explain the whole situation to her, and she was handling it about as well as could be expected. "It's just…it's ridiculous."

"It's true."

She turned to him, some unnamed emotion flashing in her eyes that put him on edge. "Let's say that it is. Why? Why are you putting me through this?"

"Because I-I wanted to say..." Everett trailed off, unsure how to express everything to her. She gazed back at him, waiting. Eventually, he just lowered his head, incapable of getting the words out of his suddenly dry mouth. She turned away, sighing. "I'm uh…I'm sorry," he got up, approaching her slowly. "I didn't choose my job over you."

She turned away, moving to sit on the couch, putting distance between them. "It wasn't just about the job."

"I know," Everett stuffed his hands in his pockets, turning away when he realized there was nothing more he could say. He only made it passed the chairs when he turned back to her. "I love you."

Emily gazed up at him but didn't reply as he turned and walked out the front door. Young made it back to the car, getting in before he realized he couldn't remember even walking to it. Peterson turned towards him, not wanting to pry, but hoping that he could help by just listening. "I'm guessing that didn't go well," when Young didn't reply, he wasn't surprised. Just as he was about to start the vehicle, he saw Emily as she came out of the house. She approached the car and was wrapping a shawl around her shoulders. "Sir," he pointed to her.

Young followed his gaze before he quickly exited the car, approaching his wife. "How does this change anything?" She asked, aggravated.

"What do you mean?"

"Let's say that I believe all of this," she waved her hand around as if to emphasize the ' _this_ ' she spoke of. "I don't really, but even if I did, you _did_ choose, and you chose to _go_."

"I didn't choose _this_ ," Everett argued, watching her pace like a caged animal.

She rounded on him, furious. "You _knew_ there was a chance you wouldn't be coming back."

"I _am_ coming back."

"No. You wouldn't be here, like _this_..." Emily pointed to Telford's body before turning away and resuming her pacing. "To-to say goodbye if you really thought there was a chance.

"Listen," Everett grabbed her arm to make her stand still. "I'm doing everything that I can. I'm goi-going to do everything that I can. I want nothing more than to get back here to be with you and I want nothing more than for you to _be_ here for me when I _do_ get off there. I'm just saying I don't know when that will be. _Please_ ," he begged.

She sighed, her voice shaking as she fought not to cry. "You made your choice, Everett. And I made mine. Nothing's changed. And I really-I _really_ do hope that you're gonna be okay."

Emily turned to walk away and he reached out to try and stop her. "Hey-"

"No, don't," she jerked back so he wouldn't touch her.

"Emily, listen, please."

She backed away, putting more space between them. "Please," she whispered.

"Emily, please. Emily," Everett begged her, heart breaking as she moved further away.

"No," she told him, now well out of reaching distance. "If you do…s-somehow make it back... I won't be here. Just let me go," she turned and all but ran back into the house. Everett watched her go in despair.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"I gave you a direct order, Lieutenant," Telford raised his voice, furious at the display of insubordination.

"Sir," Scott argued. "I understand that you gave me a direct order, and I respectfully suggest it would be a complete waste of time. I'm telling you: this ship came here for a reason," TJ reached out to him as she saw a change come over the Colonel. Matt turned back to see that his expression had changed as well. "Sir?" He questioned, confused.

"The ship came here for _what_ reason?"

"Colonel Young?" Scott asked, hopeful.

"Yeah-yeah. What the hell was Telford just ordering you to do?"

The Lieutenant sighed, relieved and happy to have the Colonel back, but furious at what Telford had tried to make him do. "Use the communication stones to report that you need to be replaced."

"He's probably right about that," Young agreed softly. "So, the ship came here for what reason?" Scott jerked his towards the front of the shuttle and they made their way to where Brody and Charlie were talking quietly with Greer standing nearby.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Lisa Park looked excited as she relayed their findings to the Kino. "The odds of coming out of FTL on the outer edge of a star system are astronomical. Throw in the fact that there are three potentially habitable planets plus a gas giant to act as a comet catcher on the outside of the system…we're talking miraculous!" Lisa was gesticulating wildly with her hands as the excitement got the better of her. "So, there's a chance now that we're gonna live…" she smiled.

The screen flickered momentarily and Park looked more serious as it focused back on her. "Though our definition of 'habitable' just means the surface temperature range allows for the presence of liquid water and, since the primary is a red dwarf, the planets must have a relatively short orbital radius just to fall within that range, which means there's a likelihood at least one or two of them will be tidally locked, meaning one side will always be facing the star, which increases the prospect of geological instability due to tidal stresses, and I can't stand earthquakes," she went off an a tangent there, still waving her hands about to get her point across.

"I was in one when I was thirteen and…I cut both my feet on broken glass," Lisa stopped talking for a moment, only then realizing how negative she had sounded. She then gestured brightly before continuing in false sincerity. "But it might be nice!"

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Doctor Rush woke slowly as what felt like the worst hangover made itself known. He turned when he saw the medic, TJ looking down at him in amusement. "Hey. How are you?" She questioned softly, afraid that his headache could turn into a migraine.

Rush looked around slowly before realizing that he was in his room, lying on his bed. "How did I get here?"

"You're not _that_ heavy!" It took a moment for it to sink in, but once it did, he groaned and flopped his head back into the pillows. "You passed out for a little while."

"How long?" Nicholas questioned.

"About ten hours," when she finished speaking, he sat up abruptly, shocked that so much time had passed. TJ pushed him back down and he settled onto his elbows as she continued. "It's probably the first real sleep you've had since we arrived here."

"Has anything happened?"

"Not since we lost power, no. You haven't missed a thing," she informed him. He put his hand to head, grimacing. "How do you feel?"

Rush took a moment to find the right word. "Embarrassed."

"Don't be," she smiled at him.

"Oh, you weren't there," he argued, flushing at the memory.

"Your head's pounding, right?" She chose to change the subject, continuing when he nodded. "How many cups of coffee do you normally drink a day? Four, five?" She nodded sympathetically at him when he gestured to indicate a number higher than that. "You're in caffeine withdrawal. So are about a dozen other people onboard. It can make you pretty crazy. You should see the smokers!"

"You're looking at one," Rush told her ruefully.

She smiled softly at him. "Double whammy, huh? Well, it could have been worse." At his look of confusion, she explained. "You almost bashed your head in when you took a dive for the floor, luckily the Colonel was quick on his feet," when he continued to stare at her blankly, she added, "He caught you."

Rush sighed, flushing in embarrassment and mortification as TJ stood up. "I was gonna let you sleep it off, but the Colonel wants you to see something, so let's go."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

The Kino flickered on, screen focusing on the gold metal wedding band before the whole scene adjusted. Rush was unpacking a bag and pointedly not looking at either the Kino or the math student. Eli's voice came from behind the Kino, sounding hopeful and annoyed. "If you don't do one, they're not gonna know who the hell you are."

"Eli, I have nothing to say."

"People are gonna find this," Eli argued. "They're gonna wanna know who we were. Look, I'll do your slate, okay? This is Doctor Nicholas Rush. He is the lead scientist of the Icarus Project. Now, just say what you feel."

Sighing, Rush leaned on his bag for a moment before he raised his head and looked directly into the Kino. He stared silently at it for a long while, his expression telling exactly what he was feeling. There simply were no words to describe it. The Kino turned off.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

TJ escorted Rush quickly to the shuttled, turning off their flashlights as they entered. Young turned to greet them. "Come on in."

Rush gazed out of the window, taking in the approaching planet and immediately he deduced what was happening. "Orbital insertion trajectory?"

Scott moved away from one of the consoles. "That was my first thought."

"No," Greer argued from behind Rush. "Your first thought was we were gonna fly into the damned thing!"

Charlie laughed quietly to himself as Scott continued as if uninterrupted. "No, sir, I'm guessing we'll get close enough to kiss but not enough for capture."

"An aerobraking manoeuvre?" Nicholas questioned, fascinated.

"Well, that's over my head but, yeah, should come out of the slingshot somewhere in the system," Matt smiled widely.

"Where there are habitable planets," Rush stated.

Young looked accusingly at TJ, but she just shook her head, also smiling. "I didn't tell him!"

"No, but you're all smiling," he said while pushing several buttons.

Young chuckled lightly. "Well, we're still too far off to know if they're anything more than rocks, but we found three candidates before Big Bertha here filled up the sky."

"So this trajectory is no accident, then." Reaching up, he grabbed the tape that was labeling the switches and swapped them.

"Well, the man's quick!" Young exclaimed sarcastically. "We'll know once we're clear."

"That'll be in, uh," checking his watch, Scott gave them a time frame. "Six minutes."

Holding up the labeled tape Rush turned to the group. "Who translated this?" Gazing accusingly at them, he continued. "You know it's completely backwards?"

Doctor Rush began to swap all the labeled stickers while Young gave Scott a long look. Trying to hide his embarrassment, Matt stood up quickly. "Well, pull up a chair, sir. This'll be a show you don't wanna miss."

"So we're clear," Young began, reclining in his seat. "My definition of 'habitable' includes a sandy beach, a tropical climate-"

Rush interrupted him as he sat down. "There's gonna be some severe turbulence when we contact the atmosphere."

Scott sunk back down in his chair as Young turned to leave the shuttle. "I'll pass the word."

"Colonel," Rush stopped him. "About our previous conversation."

Young sighed before gesturing with his hand. "Walk with me, Rush." The Scotsman gave him a strange look before standing and following him out. The Colonel gestured for Greer to stay put and turned down the corridor, Rush trailing after.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Brody glanced at Eli, waiting for the signal before he cleared his throat and looked into the Kino's camera. "Hullo there. Adam Brody...is my name," he glanced off of the cameral and took a shaky breath. "Can I start again?"

The Kino cut out before showing Brody once again, still looking nervous. "My name's Adam Brody, as I said earlier," he paused, trying to find words and failing. "Hullo-"

"Cut!" Eli could be heard off screen. Brody looked down, trying to collect himself as the screen went dark.

When the Kino started recording again, Adam was smiling brightly. "Adam Brody, engineer. I like football and I-" Eli's giggling caused him to snap in aggravation. "What?"

"Dude," Eli snickered. "This isn't for a dating service!"

"Yeah, I just..." he buried his head in his hands before he started to gesture wildly with them. "I don't know why that came out. I don't know why I'm so nervous."

"No-no-no, it's all good, it's all good. We...what have we got? We have your name, we have your job. Uh, what else is there? Oh! You're forty-something, so-"

"Thirty...thirty-six," Brody corrected, looking slightly miffed.

There was a long pause before Eli continued. "...'K," he failed to suppress a disbelieving snort. "Got that now. We'll fix that in editing. All that's left is what you wanna say for posterity."

The screen flickered again and Brody gazed at the camera with serious intent. "I always knew I was gonna die in space. From the moment I stepped through the Stargate, I uh..." he shook his head before gesturing around at the _Destiny_. "I mean, I didn't expect this but I knew something awful was going to happen. I just knew it."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Young hobbled slowly down the dark corridor, the exhausted Rush easily keeping pace with him. Grabbing his radio, Young spoke into it. "This is Young. We are expecting some atmospheric turbulence in a few minutes. Find a secure place and point your asses down."

The walked for a few moments in silence before Rush became impatient. "What is this about, Colonel?"

Before the Colonel could answer however, they turned a corner and saw movement in the darkness ahead. Young lifted his gun-crutch and took aim before a harried voice shouted at them. "Whoa, don't shoot! It's me!" Riley's voice came through the floating Kino.

"You can talk through that thing?" Rush asked, fascinated.

"Hey," Riley sounded surprised. "I can talk through this thing!"

Lieutenant James caught there attention as she came out of her sleeping quarters in a tank top and underwear gazing at the Kino in confusion. Riley and Eli came around the corner, the Sergeant holding the Kino's remote.

"Um, uh," Eli stuttered through his defense. "Riley asked me how to use the-"

"I asked him how the Kino worked…" Riley spoke over him.

"Yeah, yeah!"

James stared at the two boys, and then turned her gaze at the Kino, before looking down at her clothing. It took a moment to make the connection but when she did she was both parts furious and exasperated. The realization that the Kino had been about to enter her room, or, worse yet, that it had just _left_ her room, filled her with anger. She turned her glare to the two guilty men.

"Took a wrong turn!" Eli defended, desperate as he thumped Riley's arm.

"I can and _will_ kick your ass," Vanessa bit out.

Eli pointed to Riley, anxious. "No-"

Young interrupted them before a fight could break out. "Let's do that later. We're gonna pass very close to a gas giant in a few minutes. It's gonna be a bumpy ride. We're short on radios. Help me spread the word."

"Yes, sir," James told him, before turning her gaze to Eli and Riley one more time with a murderous promise in her expression.

"Thank you," Everett replied.

"He..." Eli pointed at Riley again, before holding his hands up in innocence. James glared at the Kino once more, and then entered her quarters to get dressed.

"Wrong turn, really? You're gonna stick to that story?" Young asked them, both highly amused and a little annoyed. When they both nodded their heads sheepishly, Young pinned them with a stern look. "Go. Help. Now."

Young turned back down the hallway, following Rush as they left to guilty party behind. Eli snatched the remote from Riley's hands before he walked over to collect the Kino from midair.

"Colonel," Rush broke the silence between them, looking both defensive and apprehensive. Young thought he might have been a porcupine in his previous life. "About earlier…"

"There's no need to apologize, Rush."

"I wasn't about to," he cut in. "Only trying to explain I was suffering from withdrawal symptoms."

"Yeah, yeah. I know. I know all about it," Young waved him off, sighing softly to pull himself together. It would not do to be angry at the man, and Everett knew that it would only cause more problems. They walked in silence for several minutes, telling people to secure themselves and to move away from the walls when they came across them. "Look," he said, swallowing down his pride. "You may not feel the need to apologize, but," Young gave the doctor a sharp glare when it looked as if Rush was going to interrupt. "But I do."

Nicholas' mouth snapped shut, half formed argument on his lips. His brow wrinkled in confusion and he turned slightly to see the man better…well as good as one could see another in the near dark. "You do what?" His words were pronounced, careful; eyes full of suspicion as if waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"Feel the need to apologize, Rush," Everett bit out, grimacing with each word. But it had to be done. "Look, you were right…about a lot of things. We should have listened to you about the power problems…but mainly…I'm sorry about…you know," he waved his hand around as he continued to hobble down the corridor, trying to find the best way to phrase the sentence. "I'm sorry for blaming you for stranding us here."

Rush stopped walking, feeling equal parts confusion and apprehension. Young took several more steps before he turned and looked back at the man. He let his eyes catalogue the man in front of him, taking in his haggard form, gaunt appearance, and exhausted posture. To be blunt, Everett thought he looked like crap. The doctor needed more sleep, at least double the food he was consuming, and a shower.

He remembered not long ago telling Greer to keep an eye on their resident baby professor, who was so in his own head that he seemed to forget about daily requirements of food and sleep. It seemed Rush needed somebody to remind him as well…or at least haul his ass to Mess and then a bed when he was being too stubborn.

The doctor seemed lost in his own mind for a few moments, confusion coloring his features. Finally he spoke, Scottish accent thick, breaking slightly into a less proper structure as emotions got the better of him. "But I did strand us here."

Young sighed, half turning away, gesturing to Rush to continue their walk as he turned and hobbled down the hall. A second later Nicholas was next to him, walking close enough that their shoulders brushed when Young nearly stumbled every few steps due to the pain. "I talked to Charlie," he ignored the raised eyebrow at Professor Eppes' first name. "He took it upon himself to discover what in God's name could have provoked you to dial the Ninth Chevron and not Earth like it had been ordered."

Rush scoffed, rubbing at his temple when his head started pounding again. "I'm sure the intricacy of human behavior cannot be solved by a mathematical equation…when did he find the time to even consider that?"

The Colonel laughed lightly. "When he should have been sleeping," at Rush's unsurprised look, Young continued. Maybe it was a genius thing. "I'm sure that Professor Eppes took that into consideration…look," he sighed again, eyes trained forward. "He told me what would have happened if we had dialed Earth when the planet's core went into overload…"

The silence once again stretched between them until Rush broke it. "And…" he asked, truly curious.

"Let's just say that his visual was not an appealing one," Young didn't need to elaborate, Rush knew, or at least he suspected what could have happened. "So I just wanted to say…well," he stopped walking, holding his hand out to grab Rush's arm, bringing the smaller man around to face him. "I wanted to say thank you."

Rush looked truly and completely surprised, mouth opening and closing as his mind battled with what to say. Young could tell it was a battle between gratitude and snarkiness. It seemed that gratitude had won and Rush took the figurative olive branch that was being offered. "You're welcome," they turned and continued to walk. It was a few minutes later that Rush extended his own olive branch. "Colonel…thank you for you know… _catching_ me."

Young smiled at the way Rush spit the word 'catching' as if it was something distasteful. Chuckling lightly, Young patted him on the shoulder. "Not a problem, Rush…and you're welcome."

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With every passing second the _Destiny_ raced closer and closer into the edge of the gas giant's gravity well. The blue planet filled nearly the entire window in the Observation Room and people stared at it in wonder as it grew larger as time passed. Brody didn't quite run into the room, Volker on his heels, pausing in the threshold as he took in the sight.

"Whoa…" he whispered before someone shoved him from behind. He followed Volker further into the room, trying to get a better view. Everyone looked alien around him, their skin taking on a greenish blue tint as the reflection from the planet's atmosphere washed over them. It was truly a beautiful sight.

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In the shuttle, Scott reached for his radio just Doctor Rush and Colonel Young walked in. Rush paused by the front, moving over the console to get a better view. TJ sat near him, looking at the planet with an expression of awe.

Greer was seated next to Charlie, and he nodded his head towards the Colonel as he sat down across from TJ, leaving Nicholas the pilot's chair. Lieutenant Scott activated his radio. "Ninety seconds to contact."

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Eli jumped up and down impatiently as he urged Chloe to get her shoes on faster. "Come on, come on, come on, come on!"

"I'm coming!" Chloe mumbled while she laced her shoes up.

Checking the clock on his phone, he urged her to go faster. "Well, we don't have much time."

"We've _seen_ planets from space," she argued, staring at him.

"How could you let yourself get jaded to this stuff so fast?" Eli asked her, shocked at her attitude.

"I'm not jaded. I've just got other stuff on my mind."

"Oh," he mumbled, placing his hands on his hips. "Well, we're just passing through the atmosphere of a gas giant on the far side of the universe in an Ancient spaceship." Nonchalantly, he added, "I'm sure there'll be other gas giants…"

Holding her hand out, Chloe rolled her eyes at him in amusement. "Okay! Okay, let's go."

Eli grinned at her as he grabbed her hand, yanking her too her feet before tugging her out of the room. Giggling, he pulled Chloe along the corridor, running to the Observation Deck. "Eli, can we please slow down?"

"Trust me…it'll be worth it, okay?"

She sighed loudly before he dragged her through the open doorway. He stopped at the threshold, staring at the many people gathered there. "Oh…" he folded his arms, annoyed. "Guess everybody had the same idea."

Chloe gasped at the sight before her, mouth opening and closing like a fish. She was speechless. "Eli, it's beautiful!"

They both move closer to the front window, where the curve of the gas giant had filled the entire vista. Chloe spared Brody a small smile as they stop next to him before she turned her gaze back to the view before her. Seconds later, the ship began to shake.

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Charlie grasped the edge of his seat tightly, closing his eyes as the ship shook with turbulence. He hated even flying on airplanes, and this was at least a hundred times worse. He snapped his eyes open when he heard chuckling from beside him. Sergeant Greer, the man that who had become increasingly efficient in tracking him down and dragging him to the Mess Hall was giving him a vicious smirk.

When Charlie blinked up at him in confusion, Greer just shook his head before lowering his voice to speak quietly to him. "You're gonna miss all the fun," Charlie tried not to flinch away as the words registered. The man sounded positively dangerous, and it set him on edge.

He looked away quickly, not wanting to hold the gaze of the terrifying man next to him, and instead took in the form of 'Big Bertha' as Colonel Young had called it. It was quite the sight…he would give it up in a heartbeat if he could be home with his Dad and his brother Donnie.

Lieutenant Scott brought his radio back up to his mouth, "Thirty seconds to contact. Hang on."

The others around him grab the seatbelts and buckled them across their laps.

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The turbulence became stronger, and Chloe reached out to grab Eli's hand to steady her. Others around them began to panic slightly before some of them decide that sitting down would be safer.

"Sit down, sit down," Eli told her, her white knuckle grip loosening some as they sat on the floor.

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Private Becker grunted in pain as he was thrown hard against the ground along with several of his peers. Kitchen appliances that hadn't yet been secured fell around them. Thankfully, a lot of the more important and larger appliances had been taken care of, and Becker knew he would be spending some time picking up utensils and dishware.

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Scott clenched his eyes shut in dread as the vibrations got worse. _Destiny_ began to skim the upper atmosphere of the planet, and Scott feared that the ship wouldn't be able to handle it. Charlie, in a fit of panic, reached out blindly and latched onto Greer's arm with one hand, fingers digging into his wrist. What was even more surprising was that the Sergeant let him.

Seconds later, the _Destiny_ exited the upper atmosphere and entered the solar system at a much more sedate pace than before. The turbulence completely stopped and people were celebrating loudly from around the ship. Scott took a deep breath before he straightened and whooped in relief. "Hell of a ride, huh?"

TJ met his eyes, smiling brightly for the first time in a long while, she laughed along with him and Charlie could hear Greer chuckling deeply. Charlie's dark brown eyes slid to look at him through his curtain of hair, trying to input this smiling, happy Greer with the scary, angry Greer he was used to. His eyes scrunched up in annoyance…he would need more data before coming to a conclusion.

Charlie flushed in embarrassment as the man's own dark eyes met his before turning down to the hand still attached to his arm. The young professor gulped in fear, removing his hand so quickly one would have thought he had been burned. Face burning red, Charlie quickly unfastened himself before he all but ran to the front of the shuttle, trying to put more distance between them. Greer's dark laughter followed him.

"Yes. Yes, it was," Rush's lilt was a good distraction from his own mortification. "Now, let's find these planets you were talking about."

"There they are, dead ahead," Scott got up, moving over to Rush so he could indicate them on a screen on the console.

"Yes," Rush mumbled, leaning forward to get a better view. Young moved up behind the scientist as Scott shifted over towards TJ and Charlie. "We should be able to analyze the atmosphere of the nearest planet within a few hours."

"We clear?" Young asked, leaning heavily on the back of Rush's chair.

"Yes, sir," Scott confirmed.

"This is…this is unbelievable. Look at this," Rush mumbled quietly, staring intently at the screen. Behind him, the others were chattering loudly, unable to hear him. "Please. Please, everyone, _be quiet_!" He shouted, silence quickly befell the room. "Our trajectory has changed."

Scott leaned over to look at the screen. "Oh, no."

"Changed?" TJ asked, confused.

"The planet has altered _Destiny_ 's course more than we hoped," Rush's voice was quiet.

"What are you talking about, Rush?" Young asked, worried. Rush didn't reply; instead he sunk back into his chair, despair coloring every movement. "Lieutenant, what the hell's he talking about?"

Scott didn't answer him, too shocked to have heard the Colonel. _Destiny_ moved slowly towards her new destination…the sun.


	5. Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The 'Destiny' heads for the sun and a lottery is held to see who lives and who dies.

" _Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's Party!'"_

**Light**

Sergeant Greer looked into the Kino as he introduced himself. "Ronald Greer," the screen flickered before focusing on him once again. He was gazing off into the distance with a pensive expression. "I can't think of a better way to move on from…from this world into the next, or _whatever_ comes, than to fly into the most powerful thing in all creation..." he turned his head, gazing at the Kino, awestruck. "...a star."

Greer lowered his head and laughed, choking back tears before he raised his gaze again. "Out in a blaze of glory…I like that," he continued softly. "That's beautiful."

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Charlie shuffled slowly into the Gate Room, one of the last to arrive. The room was packed full of survivors, just over eighty total, all milling about. Most were confused, some apprehensive and other's like Eli were just happily chatting away. He let his eyes wonder around as he made his way to the back of the group near the Stargate.

They were surrounded by military personnel once again. It made him anxious, like a sheep surrounded by wolves. Any second and they could turn against the flock. Movement above caught his eye and he saw Lieutenant Scott and Master Sergeant Greer standing in the gantry, both in a casual stance, hands resting on their rifles. Their fingers were near the triggers, not quite touching it, but it did little to ease Charlie's nerves. After all, he already knew what was going to happen, and that made him feel even worse.

Scott turned quickly when he heard the shuffle-thump that he was coming to associate as the Colonel's walking rhythm. "Everyone here?" Young questioned, moving to the stairs.

"All here, sir."

Sighing, Young descended the stairs as he started to talk. "If I could have your attention?" Silence quickly befell the room. "You've all heard about our situation. It sucks. I'm going to repeat the facts so that we are all clear," he stopped a few steps from the bottom, leaning against the banner as he breathed heavily from the pain. "In just over a day, this ship will fly into a star. Now, we have no power to change its course. We have no idea how to steer the ship. Even if we did, we are having another bad day."

The crowd started to mumble around him, nodding in agreement to his statement. Charlie found himself one of those who agreed. It seemed that that was all they had around here…bad days.

"So here's what we're gonna do," Young continued as the voices faded out again, leaving the room quiet except for his solemn words. "We have a working shuttle. We think there are three planets out there that might be habitable. Now, we _think_...we _believe_ that it's no coincidence that _Destiny_ dropped out of FTL in this solar system, to give us a chance. Now, once we know for sure that there is a planet out there for us; we are going to have a lottery."

"A lottery?"

"What?"

"That ca-"

"How-"

People talked over each other in shock and surprise, but Young continued, his voice cutting through them. "We will draw the names of fifteen people."

"The shuttle can hold twice that many," Brody said loudly, easily being heard over the murmuring.

"Not once it's been loaded up with supplies," Scott argued. "Besides, there's only life support for seventeen, max."

Camile turned to Young, angry. "You said fifteen."

"I will be choosing two of the people myself…two people with the necessary skills to fly the shuttle and survive on the planet."

"Yeah, I bet I can guess who _they_ are!" Spencer snapped cynically.

The shouting of agreement could be heard through several of the crowd members and Charlie could feel his hands going cold as the mood shifted to hostile. Young limped down the last few remaining steps before he moved to the front of the crowd. "I'll be taking _my_ name out of the lottery. Anyone who wants to join me, keep talking!"

Everett gave Spencer a sharp look and just like that the crowd was once again under control. He was their Colonel, for all intents and purposes: their Captain. It was clear what meant…he was going to go down with the ship. Clearly no one wanted to join him.

After several seconds of a pointed silence, Young continued. "We're still several hours away from knowing if the first two are even habitable, so I suggest you all go back to your quarters and wait it out. That's all I have for now."

He turned and walked away, the shuffle-thump filling the silence. Camile Wray hurried after him. Seconds later the crowd broke apart into various groups all speaking loudly to be heard over the others. From his position, Charlie could see Volker and Brody approach the small group congregating around Eli. Movement brought Charlie's attention to the other side of the Stargate where Rush was leaning against the giant ring, watching the activity around him. He stood there quietly for a few seconds, expression appearing almost bored, before he left the room, unnoticed by all others.

Eli glanced around nervously, Lieutenant James' eyes catching his as she walked by. She nodded to him slowly and he was reminded of his earlier promise to let the others know if Young, Rush, or Eppes came up with any information that everybody ought to know. He gestured angrily back to her, showing that he had not forgotten, and then quickly hurried away, searching for Chloe.

It took him less than a minute to find her, standing a little ways down the dark corridor. Scott was standing in front of her, and he could see their lips moving, but everyone else around him was too loud to make out what they were saying. He smiled as he approached; only getting a few steps before he halted in shock. Chloe had reached up and wrapped one hand around Matt's head as they touched foreheads. Her fingers carded through his short hair as they stood there, lost in their own world. Seconds later, they turned and walk away, holding hands, and Eli could feel the smile fade off his face as disappointment and hurt set in.

He should have known better…really. A girl like Chloe would never go for a guy like him. Of course she would go for Matt though…he was a great guy, really. Eli was just tired of always coming in last place to guys like First Lieutenant Matthew Scott. Eli was always that fat kid girls just wanted to be friends with.

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Greer stood next to an Air Force Private, watching as he jotted down notes on his clipboard. When he was finished writing, the Sergeant pointed at another container with his flashlight, that one containing food. He told the other how much to pack onto the ship before moving to another area that had medical supplies. Greer had to make sure that the lottery winners had everything they needed in order to survive; no matter what condition the planet would present them.

Another soldier came in, carrying the case with the communication stones in it. Greer gestured for it to go in the pile that the chosen survivors were going to take. He sighed, scrubbing a hand down his face as the Private asked him another question. Ronald gave him a curt answer before shifting his attention to weapons and ammo.

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Charlie entered his room quickly, door shutting closed behind him with a quiet hum. He paced back and forth, hands fisting into his hair as he fought for control. He wanted to go home, he wanted his Dad and Don…but most of all Charlie wanted his Mom to tell him what to do. She was always good at that, knowing exactly what to say to make him feel better.

But she was long since dead, home was a billion billion galaxies away…and Dad and Donnie had no idea what had happened to him. He collapsed onto the edge of his bed, tears falling from his eyes as he stared listlessly at the floor. Arms wrapped around his torso in a self-comforting gesture, Charlie cried.

He imagined what they would tell his family…certainly not the truth. A surprise attack on the base perhaps. He would just be another casualty on a long list. He would die out here, and they would never know what happened.

Charlie sniffed slightly, trying to keep his nose from running. He scrubbed a hand down his face, pausing mid motion when the chalk, sitting innocently on his nightstand, caught his eye. His hand reached for it, picking it up like it was a fragile thing. Turning his gaze to the one wall covered in his equations, Charlie allowed the numbers to sweep him away.

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Sergeant Spencer sat heavily on his bed, all the fight bleeding out of him. He reached over to his duffle bag, rooting around in it till he found the prescription bottle buried at the bottom. Uncapping it, he shook two pills out into his trembling hand before dry swallowing them…he wanted off of this damn ship.

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Chloe approached Matt slowly, throwing her jacket onto the table at the end of the soldier's bed. She bit her lip, uncertain, before she reached up and unbuttoned his vest and belt. She yanked his shirt off, staring at him for a moment before they came together slowly, lips pressing together in a chaste kiss.

When they parted, there was a sigh of breath before they collided together again, lips crashing, teeth parting, and tongues dueling. Chloe felt the breath leave her when Matt pulled her closer by the hips. She could feel his hardness pressing into her leg as they devoured each other, fear and anxiety giving their passion a desperate edge.

Matt turned her, shuffling her backwards until they both fell onto the bed. He hovered over her, breathing heavily as her blue eyes staring into his grey ones. He swallowed thickly, mouth dry as his gaze turned to her lips. Heart thudding loudly in his chest, he lunged down as she surged up to meet him. They came together like a supernova, all lights and heat and explosions as he thrust into her. They made love like it was their last night to live…

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Young sat at his desk, flipping through the papers before him, stopping to write something down before moving to the next. His office was bathed in an orange glow, the light from the approaching sun shining brightly through the window. If it wasn't for the constant low hum of the ship, or the just too cold temperature, he could almost pretend he was home, on Earth, sitting by the bay windows at sunset while finishing the last of his paperwork.

The sound of footsteps snapped him quickly from the indulgent day dream and he sighed loudly. "What?" Everett asked without looking up. Camile hung uncertainly in the doorway before she took the plunge and stepped into the room.

Wray stopped a few feet in front of his desk, taking a shaky breath before she found the courage to speak. "You should pick _everyone_ who goes on that shuttle. It's the responsible thing to do...and you should include yourself. If they're going to survive," she took the last few steps until the desk was right in front of her. "They'll need leadership."

He shifted, putting his pen down before turning his gaze to a corner in the room. "You're the H.R. lady, I'm guessing."

She rolled her eyes. "I am not above that. I would want you to consider me, yes. I would want you to consider _everyone_ who could contribute to their survival." When his only reply was to go back to writing completely ignoring her, Camile placed her hands on the desk, leaning over as her voice lowered in anger. "I think you should do your job and make the choices you need to make."

"It wouldn't be very fair," he flipped a page into the pile to his right, grabbing another and starting on that one from the group on the left.

"It would be more unfair to send the wrong people-"

Young interrupted her. "We're _all_ the wrong people," he held up the papers listing all the members of the crew and brandishing them at her as anger got the better of him. "These are the _wrong_ people."

Camile met his glare firmly, jaw clenching in anger. She spoke slowly, articulating her words as fury danced in her eyes. "That's up to you!"

Young stared at her, leaning back as he lowered the list. "Wow," he sighed, dropping the papers loudly to the table. "Okay. Okay. Who goes? I mean, other than you and me, I mean, or haven't you given it much thought?"

Wray sighed before straightening, fingertips still brushing the desk. "We can come up with a short list; factor in skills and strengths to increase their chances of surviving. Take age and sex into consideration-"

"How 'bout just the people we like?" His tone was condescending as he relaxed back into his chair as if it were a throne.

"That's not what I'm saying-"

"You need to leave."

"Hand-picking just two of them is a cop-out and you know it!" Camile yelled as Young started to speak simultaneously.

"Leave now or-"

"The responsible thing to do is-"

"-I'm gonna take your name out of the lottery," Everett said, tone deathly serious. She stopped talking immediately and just stared at him in shock. "I may just anyway," he grabbed the stack on the desk and started to shuffle through them quickly.

Camile choked back a sob as she put her hand over the papers, fingers just brushing his. "Please don't," she begged, gazing at him pleadingly.

He stared at her, unsympathetically. She turned, trying not to cry, and fled the room.

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Charlie stood before the blackboard, chalk dusting his fingers as he wrote frantically; trying to make his hands work as fast as his mind. Equations came pouring out, and he desperately needed to solve the problem and then everything would get better.

"Charlie!" Don's voice snapped exasperated. Charlie didn't turn to him, choosing instead to stare at the numbers as he stood in the strip of sunlight streaming through the garage window. Don stomped up to him, annoyed. "Charlie, come on. Mom wants to see you."

Charlie shook his head, chalk going back to the board as he tried to find his thought trail again. "No time."

"Charlie…" Don sounded almost angry now. "The numbers will still be here…come on; you're making us worried."

Charlie continued to write, chalk gripped tightly in his fingers. If he could just figure it out, solve the problem…then it would get better. It had to.

"She wants to see you before…before…" Don trailed off as his brother just seemed completely lost in the numbers. "Damn it, Charlie!"

There was a hand on his shoulder, yanking him roughly and Charlie turned to snap at him…except Donnie wasn't there. The youngest Eppes brother stood alone in his quarter's aboard the _Destiny_ , not in the garage at his home. There was no Don, no Dad, and Mom had long since passed. He gripped the chalk tightly, breaking it in two as tears started to cloud his eyes.

"Damn it," he whispered. He only had the numbers now, and Charlie turned back to the wall covered in them.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Chloe stroked a hand down Matthew's bare back as he sat at the edge of the bed. The room was brighter than it had ever been before, yellow and orange light chasing the shadows from the corners. The beauty of it did little to soothe the ache in her chest as she watched Matt get dressed slowly.

"I was hoping to find a planet, grow some food…not that I know a damned thing about farming," he sat back down once his pants were pulled on.

Chloe gazed at him in sadness. "You sound pretty sure we're both going."

"Yeah. Yeah, maybe I am."

He leaned closer to her, stroking her hip in a comforting manner. Chloe tried not to get defensive as she pulled the blanket up to cover her breasts. "Has he _told_ you we're the two he's picked?"

"No, it's just obvious."

"How?" She tilted her head, both amused and disbelieving.

"There's-there's only two qualified pilots on the ship…me and the Colonel. He took himself out, so..."

"Yeah, well that explains _you_. Why me?"

Matt stared at her for a moment, confused. "Come on, Chloe, he _has_ to pick you."

She could hear the conviction in his voice, his utter belief that she was going to be saved. She didn't believe him. "Why?"

"You're the daughter of a U.S. Senator. He's probably been _ordered_ to."

"Being a Senator's daughter isn't going to help anyone survive on that planet…" her voice became quieter as her heart twisted in sorrow. "And I think the Colonel's the kind of man who makes his own decisions," Chloe stroked his arm slowly as she sat up to gaze into his eyes. "I'm not one of the two, Matt…at least, I shouldn't be. I don't even know if I _wanna_ be."

"Don't say that," his voice didn't quite break as he shifted uncomfortably.

"There's still a chance that I'll get chosen in the lottery…but if I don't, I want you to know that I have probably felt closer to you in these past few days than I have ever felt to anybody. So if this is goodbye-"

"It's _not_ ," he closed his eyes, not wishing to hear what he knew she was going to say.

"It might be," Chloe reached up, stroking a hand down his cheek as Matt bit his bottom lip to keep the tears at bay. "I'm glad he's gonna pick you."

"I want you there," he spoke softly, sincerity in his eyes as tears welled up in hers.

"Yeah, well, what are the odds? One in five, one in six?"

He looked away, swallowing thickly as despair started to overtake him. The odds were not good, they both knew that. "Somethin' like that."

Her thumb stroked along his cheekbone as she leaned in closer, the blanket falling to her lap. "Well, we'll see."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Eli held the Kino up, showing the group what his plan was. "So how're you gonna get the thing off the ship?" Greer questioned as the Kino turned on, filming the people around them.

"With the remote, when the shuttle takes off," Eli explained quickly. "We might even get one last look at the _Destiny_ from the outside before it gets out of range. So-" He broke off when Chloe and Scott walked into the Observation Deck to join the group. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We heard about your message in a bottle," Chloe said, coming to stop a little ways away from her friend.

"Started out as a documentary, actually," Eli corrected, still feeling hurt about earlier. He knew he was being petty, but just this once, he didn't feel like being the bigger man.

"Well, we wanna be part of it." Chloe gestured to herself and Matt, confused at Eli's demeanor.

He turned away, refusing to meet her eyes. "Figured you'd be busy."

"Eli," Matt cut in, suspecting the reason behind his behavior. He knew exactly what to say to get him back on topic. Eli and his damned Kino's…the kid loved those things. "You realize the odds of anybody finding a Kino out here-"

"Probably nil, I know. Let's do it anyway," he snapped at Matt before turning his attention to the rest of the group, conviction in his voice. "Let's do _something_. Let's leave _something_ of ourselves behind."

Silence prevailed around the room, people shifting to look questioningly at those beside them. Finally, Greer sighed heavily, giving Eli a small nod of approval. Wallace turned back to his Kino, gazing at it as his voice lowered. "So, who's first?"

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The Kino flickered on, focusing on Chloe Armstrong who stood in the middle of a cross section in the dark corridor. She looked off screen to Eli, and he gestured at her to start talking. She quickly turned her gaze to the Kino.

"Sorry, OK. I'm Chloe Armstrong. I'm twenty-three and, um...I just wanna say that my father gave his life so that all of us could survive another day. And we did."

She swallowed heavily, turning her face down as she fought off the tears. Chloe gave a half snort before she continued, tone taking a bitter edge to it as she whispered the words. "Another day…"

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Rush flipped through another page in his notebook, holding his broken glasses over it to read the words. He was missing the left limb of his glasses so he couldn't wear them without it falling off, but he couldn't read without them…so he compromised. It was annoying, yes, but there was nothing else he could do about it at the moment.

The recognizable shuffle-thump filled the shuttle as the Colonel limped in. "Sorry," Young apologized, having received his call nearly twenty minutes ago but just now making it to the shuttle. With his limp and the many people who needed to talk to him, Rush had expected to wait a lot longer. "You radioed me?"

"Ah, yes. Um," Rush glanced over at the soldier before his eyes darted around trying to catch his train of thoughts. "The first planet is too cold…frozen methane. The second is too hot. The third..." Young stopped just next to his seated form, leaning heavily on the gun-crutch. "Well, that happens to be behind the star at the moment, too far away to determine habitability."

"When will we know?"

"It doesn't matter," the doctor shook his head before his eyes met the lighter hazel ones of the Colonel's. "We don't have any choice. We're gonna have to launch the shuttle before we can get close enough. The odds are good, though," he turned, gesturing to the many screens. "Its orbit is in between the other two…the Goldilocks Zone, they call it."

"Not too hot and not too cold."

"Yes," he smiled at the other man. "Just right."

Young gazed out the front window in contemplation. "What if we use the engines from the shuttle to push the _Destiny_ off course?"

Nicholas tilted his head curiously, surprised that a military man such as the Colonel would even come up with such a scenario. Granted, he had already thought of that hours before…but still. "That's a good thought, but, um, I'm afraid Charlie's already run the numbers and, without getting into delta-V and thrust-to-weight ratios, then..."

"Not a chance."

"No," Rush whispered the word as he shook his head in a negative.

"Well, when do we launch the shuttle?"

"We could wait a few more hours, but the extra time…" his eyes darted around the cockpit before settling on somewhere just over Everett's shoulder. "I don't think it's gonna give us any more information than we already have."

"When the shuttle's loaded, then."

Young turned and started his slow hobble out of the small ship, the gun-crutch making a metallic thumping noise every off beat. Rush turned to him thoughtfully before he called out to the man. "Colonel Young," the taller man turned to him, an unreadable expression on his face. "If, by chance, you were thinking of choosing me as one of the two..." Nicholas hesitated before he continued, tone much more subdued. "...please don't."

"Why?" Young asked curiously and a little defensive, wondering what kind of angle the Scottish man was working.

Rush gazed at him for a moment, seeming to gather the right words. "This ship...coming here...was _my_ destiny. My life's work was to be here, not trying to survive on some rock," he didn't quite spit the word, but it was pronounced with hostility all the same. "With a bunch of strangers. In fact, you can take my name off the lottery altogether."

Rush turned his gaze down, as if afraid of the Colonel's reaction to his words. Young shifted to look at him better, respect welling up inside of him. "Look, Rush, I realize I should have listened to you sooner."

"No-no, I wasn't myself," Rush argued, still embarrassed at his behavior and desperately wanting to forget the whole ordeal.

"Still, you were right."

"It really wouldn't have made any difference," Rush assured him, easing some of the Colonel's guilt. Silence surrounded them for a long moment before Young turned and started to limp away again. Once again, Rush stopped him. "Do you mind if I ask you who you _are_ gonna choose?"

Young only shifted slightly so he wasn't facing completely away from the other man. He seemed to debate with himself on whether or not Rush could do anything with the information. "Lieutenants Scott and Johansen."

Rush raised his eyebrows inquisitively. "I would have thought Scott and Greer, yesterday's heroes."

"I've got my fingers crossed for Greer."

"Well, you can easily arrange that."

Young turned fully to him then, surprise showing plainly on his face. "You mean fix the lottery?"

"Yes," Rush gave him a half dismissive shrug.

"No," he declared, shoulders tightening in defensiveness.

Rush shrugged at him before he turned back to his notes. "There'll be those who'll think you did anyway," the words were spoken as if in an afterthought.

Young stared at him in shock before he turned and quickly left the shuttle. If there was one thing that could have been said about Rush was that the man was brutally honest. And if Young was being honest with himself…he knew that the doctor was right. It didn't matter what he did, some people would always think that he cheated. He hated Rush for giving him doubts, but he respected him more for it.

"Lotta work," he mumbled to the empty hall.

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The Kino's screen flickered as Camile Wray straightened her jacket. A few seconds later, she nodded to Eli to signal she was ready. "My name is Camile Wray. My age is uh..." her eyes shift off screen to where Eli was holding the remote. "None of your business, Eli."

She gave him a soft smile before her face turned serious again and she returned her gaze to the Kino. "If, um…if anyone finds this within the next, I don't know, forty years, tell Sharon that..." she broke off for a long moment, fighting down her emotions as they threatened to overwhelm her. "...my last thoughts were of her."

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Charlie shifted nervously from his position right behind the curved edge of the Stargate. He was once again in the very back of the group, instinct and experience making it so that he had something to hide behind should violence break out. At his feet sat his military issued duffel with his last name printed on it in all capital letters. Inside was everything he now owned.

Many of those present carried their own meager possessions that they had brought from Icarus. Several unarmed military personnel were mingled in the middle with the civilians, but most of them were around the edges, blocking every exit, and all armed. They watched the crowd wearily as Young stepped up with a black tote, Master Sergeant Ronald Greer standing next to him, looking intimidating with his blood stained uniform and hostile gaze, finger hovering over the trigger of his rifle.

The Colonel opened the black case and turned it so everyone in the crowd could see that it was full of paper. "The names of every person in this room are written down on one of these pieces of paper. Doctor Rush and I have chosen to exclude ourselves. If anyone else feels the same way, now would be the time to speak up," he gazed around the room as complete silence befell the group.

Several people shifted to look at those around them, but nobody volunteered to have their names removed from the lottery. Charlie was tempted to, hand fisting as he almost raised it. He didn't want to be stranded on some planet with no way of getting home…but, he didn't want to die either. Donnie would have been angry at him, and if his brother was here, he knew what he would say. Don would tell him to do anything, _everything_ , possible to make sure he was one of the survivors…but Charlie wouldn't cheat. If his name was chosen, he knew that he would go, but if not…

"If your name is chosen, you are to go directly up these stairs to the shuttle where you will be met by the two people that I have already chosen. Lieutenant Scott has pilot training, and TJ's skills as a medic will be essential on the planet," he didn't need to say that their military training would also prevent anyone who wasn't called from getting on that ship.

"If your name is _not_ chosen, you are to remain here until I receive word the fifteen are aboard and the shuttle's rear hatch is secure. Does anyone have anything to say?" Young let his gaze roam the room and people quickly lowered theirs to keep from making eye contact.

After a few moments Young closed the lid of the case and shook it around to make the papers shift. He set it back down and opened the case, taking out the first sheet of paper. "Airman Becker."

Darren looked up at the sound of his name, before he anxiously glanced at those around him in disbelief. He stood their stunned, before the Colonel's sharp, "Go," had him nodding his head and running up the stairs. Young just turned and grabbed another sheet of paper. "David Walters."

Charlie saw a civilian he had never met before grab his briefcase and leave without a backwards glance. "Camile Wray," Camile stared around her, startled, before she turned for the stairs. She walked up the curved staircase slowly, gazing down at the colleagues that she was leaving behind. Young glanced up at her, sighing, before he reached for the next sheet.

"Lieutenant James."

Vanessa stood on the second stairway, armed with a rifle, and with orders to shoot anyone who tried to flee to the shuttle unless one of the lucky few who were called. She looked down at the Colonel, uncertain about leaving her post, but he just nodded and smiled sadly at her. She turned slowly and left, gracing her superior with a trembling smile of her own.

"Doctor Park."

Lisa turned to the stairs, head lowered so she couldn't meet the eyes of those who were getting left behind.

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Airman Becker ran down the corridor, reaching the shuttle in minutes. He had to dodge the supply crates that had been stacked and secured in the middle of the floor. "Take a seat, strap in." Lieutenant Scott greeted him before gesturing to the bench along the side.

"Yes sir," Becker quickly did as ordered, fastening the lap belt around him. Moments later Walters and Wray ran into the shuttle, Camile burying her head in her hands and weeping as she sat down next to Darren.

Becker awkwardly patted her on the back, unsure of how to offer her comfort. Lieutenant James trotted in after them. Scott pointed back at the entrance and Vanessa turned back to guard the hatch just as Lisa Park came into view.

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"Mr. Brody."

Eli turned to Adam who had been standing right behind him. Brody reached down and grabbed his bag before he started to make his way through the crowd, squeezing Eli's shoulder as he passed. Volker gave him a quick pat on the back and Riley bumped him gently on the shoulder before he made it to the stairs.

"Sergeant Riley."

Hunter bowed his head in relief, and then made his way forward. When he reached Eli, the young math student held up the Kino before handing it to him. Hunter gave him a small smile before he took it, leaving to the shuttle.

"And Doctor Boone," the crowd shifted restlessly as Boone grabbed his bag and ran up the steps. "That's fifteen. We're done here."

A low murmuring of distressed voices started to fill the silence. Spencer stormed forward, furious at not having been called. "You could fit more people on that thing!"

"Spencer," Young's voice was calm as he addressed the angry man. "I need you to shut up."

"Come on, people!" He shouted, turning to the crowd. "If we don't do something right now, we're done!"

Several of those in the crowd voiced their agreement with him. "You're right, we've gotta do something!"

Spencer turned back to Young, gearing up to start a mutiny and instead met Sergeant Greer's gun as the man clubbed him across the face with it. Immediately he collapsed to the floor, unconscious. The crowd gasped, shifting in fear as Greer spun the rifle around and aimed it down a Spencer to make sure he wasn't going to get up.

His dark steely gaze swept accusingly at those in the crowd and silence was instantaneous. "Now, I don't wanna have to do that to anybody else...but I will." And Charlie believed him.

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Riley stood just outside the hatch as he deployed the Kino into the gap between the shuttle's doors and to doors to the corridor beyond it. The Kino hovered there, the camera watching as he turned and walked back into the shuttle.

James did a quick head count before she turned to the front. "That's it," her quiet words were easily heard over the near silent sobbing. Scott looked up from his checklist in dread, taking in the faces of those chosen, and not seeing the one he wished had been called.

"Full count," TJ whispered, gazing at Scott in sadness.

Sighing, the Lieutenant turned to the front of the ship, finger hesitating over the button before he forced himself to push it. The rear doors closed quickly, leaving the Kino just outside. Behind it, the bulkhead sealed with a hiss. Scott collapsed into the pilot chair and he could hear James sigh loudly from her seat behind him.

Once the overhead control panels lowered, he activated his radio. "This is Scott. Everyone's aboard. Rear hatch is secure."

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Young grabbed his radio, turning slightly away from the group. His voice was tight with emotion but he forced himself to remain collected. "Give yourself a sixty second countdown, Lieutenant. Some of us would like to see you off."

"Copy that."

Young gazed into the crowd, his eyes catching those of the young Mr. Wallace. Eli looked back at him, taking a hesitant half step forward. When his action weren't met with hostility, he headed to the Observation Deck, Chloe following after him.

The other survivors stood there, unable to move, too shocked and grief-stricken that they hadn't been picked. Young turned and slowly walked away, Greer stepping up behind him. Slowly the rest of the crowd broke apart and left the room. Charlie jogged after the Colonel and his student, hopping over the unconscious soldier, and into the dark corridor.

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"We're releasing the docking clamps," Scott told the Colonel, before he reached up and pressed several buttons and flipping a switch. The clamps retracted with a loud whirring noise and the shuttle began to slowly pull away from the airlock.

The Kino floated effortlessly through the gap and drifted out into space.

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The Kino focused on Charlie's face as he gazed at it in silence. He waited a moment, gathering his thoughts. "I wasn't supposed to be here…"

He trailed off, running a tired hand through his hair. "I mean, I turned down the opportunity of a life time, so Dr. Rush said…I shouldn't be here. I just wanted to say…Donnie, Dad, if you somehow get this…well, I'm sorry. I just couldn't let Eli do this alone."

Charlie looked at his hands clasped tightly in his lap. "You would be proud of me, Don. I tried to protect him, as you did me…but this," he gestured to around him. "This is too big for me."

Eyes welling up in tears, he hurried to finish. "I'm sorry…about Mom, pushing you guys away…about everything. I'm sorry I'm not gonna be there…I-I just," he broke off, choking back a sob. "I'm sorry."

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Eli entered the Observation Deck, taking in the view of the _Destiny_ bathed in bright reds, yellows, and oranges. Rush was already there waiting for them. Charlie shuffled in right behind the Colonel, walking past the slower man to stand on the other side of the Senator's daughter. He felt Greer move up behind him, settling so close that he could feel the heat through the man's jacket.

He was distracted when the shuttle's engines fired briefly and the vessel turned at a forty-seven degree angle. Charlie knew he should feel sad, perhaps devastated, but instead he felt nothing at all…and that scared him.

"The Kino's sending back pictures," Eli's voice broke the silence that had descended on the group.

"This is Scott," the Lieutenant's voice came through the radios. "We're away."

"You're looking good, Lieutenant."

"I expect we'll be out of radio range by the time we fire up the main drive so..." there was a long pause before his voice was heard again. "We'll be thinking of you guys."

"You too, brother," Greer spoke softly into the radio. "You too."

"Matthew, TJ," Young held the communicator up to his mouth, white bandages on his fingers in stark contrast to his dark uniform. "Take good care of those people."

There was no reply, but Young wasn't really expecting one. In his own way, this was goodbye. Charlie watched with the others as the thrusters above the shuttle fired briefly to stop it from rising further, before the rear engine ignited and shuttle pulled cleanly away from the ship.

Eli turned away from the view, gazing at the remote as he held it up smiling. "There it is."

The others crowded around him as the Kino sent back the image of the ship, slowly getting the whole picture as it drifted further away. "That's the _Destiny_ ," Charlie stated quietly, awestruck.

Eli nodded to him, smiling, and Rush shifted closer, bumping into the Colonel as he gazed at the image in amazement. The Kino drifted further away, revealing the ship in its entirety just before the sun eclipsed it, its light obliterating everything on screen. He lowered the remote and silence hung over the group.

Rush nodded his head, appreciatively. "Thank you, Eli," the older man smiled and Charlie was stunned at his change in character. He acted like that was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for him…but then again, knowing Rush, maybe it was. "I never thought I'd get the chance to see the ship from the outside."

"You know what? I think I'm gonna go for a walk," Young stated, turning to Greer. "How's that sound, Sergeant?"

"Sounds like a plan, sir."

"I shall be in my quarters for the duration," Rush told him as the Colonel turned to face him. "I have a hundred pages of a truly mediocre book to finish," he smiled briefly. Young gazed at him for a moment before he held his hand out to him. Truly touched, Rush bit back defensive words that rose automatically to him, and took the offered hand, shaking it briefly.

Young turned to the others, nodding his head slowly before he and Greer left the room, the Colonel giving Charlie a soft pat on the back when he passed. Charlie stumbled a bit when Greer bumped his shoulder into him, but he didn't take offense because the older man just gave him a look before smiling dangerously at him. Charlie didn't know if that was a good thing or a very, very bad thing. He chose to ignore it instead, perhaps add it into the data so he could quantify him with his own interactions with soldiers…but he guessed that wasn't an issue anymore. What did it matter if he figured him out, it's not like he could do anything with the data with the short time they had left.

Rush shifted nervously, clearing his throat. "Eli, I, uh, I'm sorry I got you involved in this. You too, professor."

Charlie looked at the man, astonished at the apology. He didn't answer though. Wasn't sure how too.

"Actually..." Eli said, eyes narrowing, surprised about his own feeling on the matter. "...I'm not," there was a pause before he added to his response. "Yet!" Eli laughed. "I'll probably be sorry at the end of the day, but..."

Rush nodded and looked down, unable to respond. Eli looked between the doctor and his professor, both had sadness etched into their faces. "We don't have that long, do we?" He asked solemnly.

"No," Rush whispered the word as he shook his head.

Chloe turned to the window, gazing at the approaching star. "How will it happen?"

Rush looked at her, unsure whether or not to tell the full truth. But then he decided to be honest, turning away to look at the sun as well. "Well, there will be turbulence from the solar wind, far worse than what we've previously experienced," both Eli and Charlie gazed at the view, needing to listen but not wanting to know. "Heat, obviously," Rush continued. "And intense G-forces. I suspect the ship will be torn apart long before we reach the star."

Nicholas' eyes met Chloe's as she gazed at him in despair. His lips trembled as he tried to find words of comfort, but nothing came to mind. "Hopefully it will be quick." It was all they could hope for…a quick death.

With nothing more to say, he nodded at them before he left the room. Eli and Chloe turned back to the railing, gazing unhappily out the window. Charlie waited several moments then he patted Eli on the shoulder, gave Chloe a reassuring hug, and left to his own quarters where the walls were covered in numbers and he could lose himself.

After a while, Chloe clutched Eli's arm and laid her head on his shoulder. He gazed across at her, and smiled remorsefully. Chloe tried desperately not to cry…she didn't succeed.

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Greer walked closely at the Colonel's side, listening to the man as his words flowed between reprimanding and prideful. "...and while I don't condone behavior of that kind in any way, shape or form, I-I've gotta say...the look on Telford's face when you put him down was priceless! Complete and total shock!"

"He _was_ surprised, yes, sir!" Greer agreed and they both chuckled at the memory.

Once, a long time ago, Everett and David had been friends…but something in their dynamics had changed. Young believed it happened around the time that Telford was put in charge of the Icarus Project. He had become obsessed with a single minded focus, and their friendship fell to the wayside as petty squabbles over leadership had broken out. Though David was in charge of the project, the majority of the military personnel followed Young's orders over his.

The incident with Greer was just one of many that Young had to interfere with when a soldier disobeyed Telford's direct order. Though none had actually punched the man like Ronald had. "I guess you can say you even got away with it."

Greer stopped walking, turning to the Colonel with a sad expression. "Just, uh, sorry that I…that I disappointed you, sir."

Young looked at him, taking in his fatigued stance, his serious expression, and his complete devotion. "You're a good man, Sergeant, I know that. Besides, the bastard had it coming."

The Sergeant stared back at him for moment, then tilted his head down and grinned viciously. "Yes, sir, he did."

Their soft laughter filled the quiet corridor before Young became somber again. "So long," instantly, Greer raised his hand and saluted the Colonel, the one man he had always thought of as a father. Everett smiled at him, before he told him gently, "At ease, Ronald."

He held the salute a moment longer, the highest respect for the man before him, and then lowered his arm and took the proffered hand of the Colonel's that was being offered. The grip was strong as they shook hands, simultaneously shifting to clasping their fists in a shield-brother gesture. Greer watched solemnly as Young turned and left, knowing that that was the last time he would see the man.

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The Kino flickered on, Colonel Young's uncomfortable expression plain to see. "Okay, Colonel, just go whenever you're ready," Eli tried to sound comforting as he pressed a few more buttons and the screen came into focus.

"Yeah. No-no, I got it. I just, uh, just...can you just wait outside, Eli? Thanks."

The Colonel watched Eli leave the room without hesitation, hearing the doors of his office hiss shut. He turned back to the Kino, smiling softly. "Hi, Emily. I just, um, I just wanted to say..."

Everett paused, struggling to find the words to say, but they never seemed to be enough. "I just wanted to say tha-that I understand," he twisted his wedding ring around his finger, glancing briefly at it before turning back to the Kino. "This isn't…easy for me, but…I love you Emily, I always will. So, that's why-that's why I'm gonna let you go."

He looked away, gazing at the floor as he fought control of his emotions. "And, well…" the words left him but he fought to finish what he had started. "You know. You know."

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Sergeant Spencer regained consciousness slowly, the Gate Room coming into focus as his eyes watered. Head pounding, he gently touched his bruise mouth before hauling himself up to his feet. The room was empty, devoid of all other life aside his own, and he stumbled into the corridor.

Spencer had walked for what seemed like forever before he heard the sound of voices. He followed it, sticking close to the wall as he lost his balance several times. The voices led him into the Mess Hall, the room lit only by the approaching sun and the few emergency lights.

There was a gathering of people, all sitting around the largest table. They were all playing what looked like poker with two decks of cards, judging by the colors. "Where _is_ everybody?"

One of the scientists, the one with the sling…'Volker', Spencer remembered, answered him. "All the _fun_ people are here!"

He stood there for a moment, confused. Shaking his head in frustration, Spencer turned and quickly walked away without another word. Three corridors later he found another, larger, group of people. Most were sitting, some standing, as their heads were lowered, reciting the Lord's Prayer.

"Our Father who art in Heaven," they spoke simultaneously. "Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation..."

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Rush sat upon his bed, shoes still on, but caring little about it. His iPhone was docked upon the speakers that he had managed to rescue from Icarus Base and was playing his wife's favorite song. She used to love playing this piece on the violin…he used to love listening to her play it.

He tapped his glasses against the book, bringing his attention back to the words. It was a little more difficult, reading through the glasses like a magnifying glass, but he had adjusted quickly. Nicholas sighed softly, letting the words distract him as the music kept playing.

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Eli turned from the window to glance at Chloe as they sat on one of the many sofas in the Observation Deck. He shifted his gaze back to the window as the sun loomed ever closer. It was a truly beautiful sight. Too bad they were all going to die in it.

Chloe grabbed his hand, pulling his attention away from his morbid thoughts. She placed their joined hands into her lap, turning to him briefly. They smiled sadly at each other.

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In his own quarters, Young removed his wedding ring, feeling the weight of it in his hand. He could already feel the absence of it on his finger, but he refused to put it back on. The tears welled up in his eyes, dripping slowly down his face as he gazed at the gold band.

Turning away, he gripped the ring tightly in his fist. Everett had made a promise…he was going to let her go. And he did.

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Ronald Greer stood by his bed, possessions laid out and organized. He removed his shirt, folding it before placing it on the footlocker at the end of his bed. His pants and underwear followed quickly. The only thing left was his dog tags which he chose not to remove. He intended to go out the way he came into the world…but his dog tags were a reminder of what he had accomplished.

Once finished, he settled himself on the edge of his bed…awaiting the end.

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Charlie stood in front of his bedroom wall, chalk in one hand and notebook in the other. He lifted the chalk, frowning when he realized there was no more room to write. He stood there in confusion for a moment before his eyes slid away to the wall adjacent to it. There were no numbers on that wall.

He crossed the room quickly, moving a chair and small table out of the way. There should be numbers on this wall too. Charlie decided he was going to fix that.

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The crew was silent in the shuttle, the weight of those they left behind heavy in their hearts. Riley looked down at his watch, noting the time and sighed sadly. James looked at him, worried and curious. "What?"

"Oh, nothing," he mumbled, glancing at her. "I just-I realized it was past midnight."

Lisa turned to the window but the _Destiny_ was long out of sight. "Does that mean they've gone into the sun?"

"No! No-no-no, no, nothing like that," he assured her.

Camile leaned forward curiously, a thought nagging her at the back of her mind. It took seconds to grasp it. "It's his birthday. That's all he means."

"Oh," Vanessa mumbled before she looked back at Hunter. "Happy birthday."

The words sounded hollow, even to her own ears. She smiled at him remorsefully and he gave her a half aborted smile of his own. "Thanks."

Scott pushed several buttons on the screen, frowning down at it as the information stayed the same. "Mr Brody, would you come up here for a second? I need you to confirm spectrographic analysis for me."

Brody got up and walked over to him quickly. Gazing over his shoulder, he translated the Ancient text, confirming what the Lieutenant already knew. "Oxygen, nitrogen, liquid water..." Adam straightened, unhappy. "Only trace levels of CO2."

TJ took several steps closer to the two men, anxious at having noticed the scientist's expression. "What?"

Brody glanced at her before looking quickly away. "It means there won't be much vegetation. Also means the thermometer won't be spending much time above zero, either."

"But we can survive, right?" Scott asked.

"Yeah. It'll be great," his expression was easily read however. Both Scott and TJ heard what he wasn't saying…they may not _want_ to survive in such an environment. Brody turned and made his way quickly back to his seat, face grave.

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The _Destiny_ reached the sun, surface burning and body trembling. In his room, Rush flipped the book closed, finally finished. Carefully folding his glasses, he flung the book across the room, disappointed as it was a complete waste of time like he had originally thought. He wasn't even sure why he had started to read it in the first place.

His room shook slightly as the turbulence first started. Glancing down at his watch, he frowned in confusion. Stumbling out of his bed, he grabbed the flashlight and stalked out into the dark corridors. He wasn't running, but his gait still devoured the distance between his quarters and the Control Room swiftly. Part of the console was illuminated. Making his way over to it, he gazed at the screen, eyes darting around the interface, before he started to laugh.

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Eli and Chloe glanced at each other before turning their eyes back to the sun. Seconds later they were distracted from the sight as Rush ran into the room, stopping only once he had reached the front railing. Rush couldn't believe his eyes, the ship was well inside the corona, dancing along the star as if it were skimming the surface.

Rush gazed at the view in wonder, eyes taking in the burning star, the flames twisting in and out of its surface. They were alive. He laughed loudly, pure joy radiating off him. "Oh, _yes!_ "

"Uh," Eli shifted nervously in his seat, leaning forward. He was worried that Rush was having another nervous breakdown as he watched the man laugh in near hysterics. "What are we so happy about?"

Rush turned to him, smiling brightly. "We're gonna live, Eli."

Eli stood suddenly, disbelief and hope pouring out of him. "What about the turbulence and the heat and the death?"

"No, all of that would have happened by now," Nicholas gestured wildly with his hands, pacing as if he couldn't contain himself. "The shield is protecting us."

"But you said we were out of power," Chloe stated in shock, coming to stand next to Eli.

"I was absolutely certain of that, and I've never been more pleased to be wrong in all my life," he grinned at them before he once again ran out of the room. Eli looked at Chloe for a moment, hope burning in his chest, before he chased after the man.

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_Destiny_ skimmed closer to the sun, heat and fire dancing along the shields. A loud whirring noise could be heard over the rushing wind and large power cells on the underside of the belly were lowered. They lit up seconds before she plunged down into the star.

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Young was almost asleep when the lights came on in his quarters. Blinking at them curiously, he sat up startled at the realization of what he was seeing. He quickly got up out of his bed, making his way out of his quarters.

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Greer looked around surprised as his lights came on, raising an eyebrow curiously. He sat there a moment longer before standing, snatching his clothes and getting quickly dressed. Seconds later, the fully clothed Greer ran out of the room.

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Charlie was snapped out of his near frantic haze as the oranges and yellows were washed out of his room to be replaced with the artificial lighting of the _Destiny_. His hand paused, hovering over the wall; chalk poised to finish the equation. Suddenly he couldn't even remember what it was that he was working on.

The chalk slid out of his limp fingers, clattering unnoticed upon the metal floor. Moments later his door hissed open and Charlie raced out into the hall.

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Young limped down the corridor, dodging civilians and soldiers as they milled about, chattering away nervously. Just as Young was passing a group of civilians, Franklin ran out of his quarters. "The lights just came back on in my room," he stated. Young gave him a disparaging look as the man stated the obvious. "What's going on?"

"Stand by," Young replied, continuing on his way.

Franklin stared after him, bewildered. "Colonel?"

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Charlie hovered over a console as Eli stood nearby. "You're right!" Eli didn't quite shout as he read the information. "The systems are coming back online all over the ship!"

Young limped in quickly, eyes automatically sweeping over those present in the room before settling on Rush. "There's a rumor spreading that we're still here."

Rush smiled delightfully down at his console as he answered the man's unasked question. "We _are_. _Destiny_ needed all its power reserves," the lights flickered on in the room, and suddenly they could all see. "To protect itself - _and_ us."

Eli shifted over to the unused console, pressing several buttons before he glanced up at the group nervously. "Uh, guys?" He activated the holographic screen that displayed _Destiny's_ location in relation to the sun. He pointed at it in disbelief and awe. "We're _in_ the star."

" _That_ can't be right," Young gazed at the image in confusion as he moved around the interface to get a better look. "You're talking thousands of degrees."

"Well, we've just flown through the corona," Rush told him, not glancing up from his screen. "Which is even hotter, to say nothing of magnetic fields, gravitational stresses. This is what _Destiny_ intended from the moment it entered the star system."

"You're telling me it flew into the sun on purpose?" Everett asked quietly.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"To replenish its reserves," Rush replied softly, sounding a little smug.

"You're telling me the ship-"

Rush interrupted him. "The ship is powered by the stars themselves. Solar powered…quite literally. There is no other explanation."

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The _Destiny_ rose slowly from the other side of the star and began to move away. The lights came on all over the ship, fully powered. She pulled away from the star, her engines powering up just as she cleared the corona. The ship jolted as the thrusters fired, shields at full even as they stopped burning.

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"The engines just came back on!" Charlie announced, excited as the ship had power once again. "We're pulling out of it!"

Beeping from the side of the room pulled everyone's attention to the clock on the wall. The countdown timer had activated on the screen, showing that they were going to jump into FTL in less than an hour. "The shuttle!" Young turned to Rush. "We've gotta call them back."

"Uh, we haven't accessed communications yet," Eli told him even as Rush began to type furiously into his console.

"I'm working on it."

Young shifted so he was standing right next to Rush, shoulders barely brushing. "Well, you know, if you don't figure it out before we go into FTL-"

"Plenty of time."

"We can't strand those people here."

Rush turned to him, gazing at him pointedly. "Then this would be an excellent time for you to trust me to solve this problem."

Young gazed back at him steadily, before he gave a minute nod of his head.

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The shuttle approached the planet quickly, thrusters burning as it ate up the distance. "Okay, I'm gonna put us in a high orbit," Scott turned to look at the crew. "Spend a little time looking around for the best spot before we put down."

He turned back to his screen, pressing several buttons as he input the flight path into the console. TJ looked across at him, biting her lip as she watched Scott rub the wetness out of his eyes. "They're gone," her voice broke as she turned to look at the planet through the front window. "You know, I can't help but think maybe they're the lucky ones."

"Don't, TJ," Scott urged her, shaking his head as if to unhear the words.

"The planet is a rock."

"I said _stop it_." He turned to her, words firm before he addressed the rest of the crew louder. "All right, here we go."

Scott was just about to change the course of the shuttle when they heard Colonel Young's voice over the comms. It was the last thing they ever thought they would hear. "This is Young, come in."

Bewildered, everyone looked around the ship, gazing at each other before turning to the pilot. Scott looked up at the controls, uncertain of which one would activate the communications. "Right there," Brody pointed, shouting, before he jumped out of his seat and ran forward. "Right there!" He reached up, flipping a switch.

"Uh, this is-this is Scott. Sir, how the hell...?" Scott didn't quite yell as he sat there amazed.

"We're just as surprised as you are, Lieutenant. I'll explain later. You need to get your ass back aboard this ship."

The crew laughed, applauding in delight. Scott sunk back into the chair in relief as TJ moved to the window, pointing. "Look, there it is!"

They could see the _Destiny_ far out in the distance, trailing fire behind her. "Will do! Scott out!" He turned to the rest of the crew, shouting in excitement. "Everybody hear that?" The shuttle was filled with cheers and smiles. "We have a visual of you, _Destiny_. Plotting an intercept course now."

He typed onto the screen, trying to reprogram their trajectory. The console beeped negatively at him and he looked at the screen in dread. He tried the input again and was met with the same results. "Uh, Colonel, stand by," he turned around to see the scientist. "Brody, come here."

Brody only hesitated for a moment before he made his way over to the Lieutenant. "What is it?"

Scott pinched the bridge of his nose, frustrated. "I don't know yet. Am I reading this right?"

Brody leaned over, bracing himself on the back of the pilot's chair. His eyes took in the images and words on the screen, but it took his mind a moment longer to catch up. The console showed the _Destiny_ passing in front of the shuttle, still a long ways off, and then disappearing quickly off of the radar.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me. We are so close," he looks out the window, gesturing frantically. "You can almost touch it! It's right there!"

"What's going on, Lieutenant?" Wray asked from her position next to Becker.

"The _Destiny_ is accelerating away from us," he tries to input the intercept coordinates again, but the console just continued to beep negatively at him. "We can't match it."

"Colonel," he said louder, raising his head so the communicator could pick up his voice. "We have a problem here."

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"What is it?" Young asked, face grimacing at the words.

"We can see you," Scott's slightly muffled voice could be heard clearly throughout the silence in the Control Room. "But the shuttle's computer cannot come up with an intercept solution. _Destiny_ is accelerating too fast. I'm trying to put something in manually here but there's no way to cross the 't'. Sir, we're gonna fall short."

"You're on full power, yes?" Rush asked, eyes devouring his screen as he tried to think of a solution.

"I put the throttle up right away. It's-it's just not gonna be enough."

"You _must_ have afterburners or something," Eli suggested desperately.

"It's not an F-16, Eli," Scott snapped in frustration. "It's a spaceship."

Young looked between the three civilians in the room before he addressed the shuttle. "Is there anything we can do from this end?"

"Is there any way to slow the _Destiny_ down?" TJ asked.

"Tha-that would do it," Scott agreed quickly.

Young turned to Rush, hopeful. Rush just shook his head slowly, lips pressed together in aggravation. Young sighed, trying to keep calm. "Negative."

There was silence over the comms as they tried urgently to think of something…anything. "Uh, we're out of ideas here."

"Come on, guys," Young begged. Rush pressed a hand over his face, thinking hard. Plans and ideas racing through his thoughts, being thrown away for one reason or the other. Charlie looked at the shuttle's schematics, trying to find a way to give it more power. "Come on."

Rush dropped his hand, slamming it on the console as one idea finally stuck. It was desperate, but it might just provide the speed they need. "Lieutenant. I want you to turn and head directly towards the planet. We'll send you an exact course in a moment."

Charlie understood immediately numbers already rushing through his mind as his fingers flew over the console, inputting numbers and variables.

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Scott shook his head…that couldn't be their plan. "No, no-no-no-no," Scott argued. "The planet is a _rock_. We're better taking our chances-"

"Do what I say, Lieutenant," Rush snapped at them, his Scottish accent thick and muffled through the communication unit. "We don't have much time."

Completely confused and not at all understanding why the doctor was ordering him to the planet, Scott nonetheless did as he was told. He typed rapidly into the console and the shuttle turned and headed straight for the planet.

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Charlie typed frantically on the console entering his equation. Rush took the moment to explain both Young and those on the shuttle his idea. "In order to reach the star, _Destiny_ used an aero breaking maneuver to slow down. I'm suggesting Lieutenant Scott perform a slingshot maneuver around the planet to do exactly the opposite."

"A gravity boost to speed up-"

"-should put _Destiny_ directly in their path," Rush finished for him.

"We're all aboard with that idea, Doctor," Scott's voice came over the intercom. "Just give me the course and speed. This planet's getting pretty big in the windows here."

"One moment…" Rush trailed off, pressing a few buttons on the console.

"I got it," Charlie stated a second later and both Rush and Eli came over to his console as it beeped at him.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa," Rush mumbled, glancing at the equation. "There's many variables here. Are you sure about this?"

Charlie gave him a pointed look and Rush was reminded that this young man, nearly half his own age, was a professor of the highest degree. In the field of mathematics, his mind was unparalleled. "Right, sorry," Rush mumbled, flushing slightly in embarrassment. He typed a command into Eppes' console before making his way over to his own. "Sending the new course now."

"Is this gonna work?" Young asked quietly, not wanting to be heard by those on the shuttle.

"It's gonna be close," Rush mumbled as he sent the information.

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The console beeped and Scott looked over the data sent to them. "Got it," he turned, looking around at the other. "All right, everybody, hang on again."

Everyone grabbed a hold of whatever was nearby, bracing themselves. Scott turned quickly back to the console, activating the controls needed for such a maneuver. The thrusters fired, the shuttle tilting as it entered the planet's gravity field. It shook violently, skimming across the surface, accelerating greatly in speed. They left the planet, coming out on the other side and flying swiftly into space.

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Eli pressed a few buttons, once again bringing up the holographic screen. It displayed the _Destiny_ in the center of the screen, a small red box tracking the yellow image of the shuttle as it came closer. "That's them," he pointed, and then frowned. "Why am I watching this on TV?"

He turned, racing out of the room and barely avoiding Colonel Young as he moved closer to the screen. Rush and Eppes watched anxiously from behind their respected consoles.

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Scott turned to look at TJ, an uneasy expression on his face. "Okay. We're only gonna get one shot at this."

He shook his head anxiously, sighing to calm his nerves. "Wish it wasn't the first time I tried it."

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Eli ran into the Observation Deck, making his way over to where Chloe was standing at the rail. She turned to him as he stopped next to her, pointing frantically. "There-there-there!"

Following his gesture, Chloe could just make out the engines of the shuttle in the darkness.

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"You've got us lined up," Young told the Lieutenant, gripping his gun-crutch so his hands wouldn't shake. "You're doing fine."

"No he isn't," Rush disagreed, speaking loudly to be heard by the shuttle as well. "We're coming up on them too fast."

The shuttle turned slightly, aligning itself to the _Destiny_ as the much larger ship sped towards it. "Lieutenant," Rush moved closer to the console, speaking quickly. "Our relative velocity is too great. Unless you can match our speed, you're gonna crash into the ship."

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Scott pushed a few buttons but it made no difference in speed. "Uh, this is all we've got."

Doctor Boone stood at the back of the shuttle, gazing through the rear windows. "Uh, it's coming up pretty fast on us," Boone stated anxiously as the _Destiny_ overtook them.

"I know, I know, I know!"

"You have to come left!" Brody called out from his position near the side window.

Scott corrected his course quickly. "A little this way, Lieutenant," Riley told him from the other side.

"Need some more speed," Scott mumbled, but there was none to be found.

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Charlie typed rapidly into his console, shouting out when he was sure his math was sound. "Fire maneuvering thrusters. It will just make the difference."

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Scott reached up and flipped several switches. The maneuvering thrusters fired, accelerating the shuttle's speed. The _Destiny_ seemed to only be going just a little faster than them now as it rose up underneath the much smaller ship.

Seconds later the shuttle jolted and the three men still standing held on tightly as the shuttle thumped onto the runway, sliding backwards. Scott flicked several switches and the ship started to power down. "Main engines off."

The shuttle scraped loudly along the runway as the _Destiny_ continued forward. It thumped loudly into the airlock and the small ship came to an abrupt stop. Pressing more buttons and flicking several switches, Scott locked them into place. "Uh, thrusters off, docking clamps engaged," he turned, gazing in amazement at those around him. "We're still in one piece!"

They cheered.

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Young smiled brightly, heading to the door. "Well done!" He shouted, ruffling Charlie's curly hair as he passed. "Well done! On our way down!" When he reached Rush he patted him on the back of the neck, giving it a slight squeeze of reassurance.

Rush cringed away from the unexpected contact, turning to watch the Colonel limp away with an unreadable expression on his face. Charlie smiled softly at the other man. He was used to Donnie constantly touching him, giving him rough pats on the back, a gentle shoulder punch, and ruffling his hair. Clearly Dr. Rush was not. He didn't know why, but that greatly amused him.

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Chloe launched herself at Eli, wrapping her arms around his neck. She cried in joy as he hugged her back, smiling gently. Seconds later, she pulled away, still grinning in happiness at him before she ran out of the room, hurrying to meet Scott.

Eli turned to look at the shuttle, not wanting to watch her leave him for the other man. He was happy, he really was. Scott was his friend. But that didn't mean it still didn't hurt. His smile twisted into something else…he looked down in resignation.

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Becker mixed another bowl of the liquid rations, listening happily to the excited chatter coming from the only occupied table in the Mess Hall. Laughter filled the quiet room as he made his way over and gave the Medic, TJ, her food.

"That's what you say," Young said through his laughter. "But I'm dead serious about it: that was like…that was the worst shuttle docking I have ever seen in my life!"

Scott shook his head but couldn't wipe the smile off of his face. "What are you talking about? I barely even dented it!"

TJ laughed hysterically. "Just the grinding noises!"

"At the very least there's a giant scrape along the bottom. I'm gonna make you put on a spacesuit and go out there and fix it right now!" Young told Scott in all seriousness. Scott turned away, nodding his head indignantly as Young shifted his attention to Greer. "Sergeant, we're gonna need some of that high-high temperature spaceship paint for Scott here."

"Yes, sir, I believe I've found some!" Greer said, holding his bowl up and displaying the mush to the group.

Everyone laughed loudly just as Rush came in, Charlie following sedately behind.

"Doctor Rush, Professor Eppes, have a seat. These two have even showered!" Young called out to them gesturing to Scott and Wallace, as the two civilians waited for Becker to serve them.

"No thanks," Rush mumbled as he took his own bowl.

"Ah, come on. We should celebrate," Young sighed at the other man.

"Celebrate what? That we're back where we started?" Rush asked turning to them.

Young sagged onto the table in mock exasperation. "Ah, come on," Scott spoke up, smiling at the man. "Have a seat, Rush!"

"Some other time," Rush mumbled as Charlie received his own bowl and made his way over to the group.

He sat at the end of the table, next to Greer. The other man didn't even shift a little so Charlie was forced to either fall off the bench, or press against the man's side. Charlie chose the latter, not wishing to become acquainted with the floor, and relaxed into the heat that the body next to him provided. The ship was just shy of being too cold, and Charlie made a mental note to find a jacket…soon.

Spooning up some of the food, Charlie stared at it dispassionately, _really_ not wanting to eat it. He was reminiscing on his father's Barbeque so he didn't notice the inquisitive look the darker skinned soldier gave him.

Young turned to look at the interaction between Greer and Eppes, before his eyes were inexplicably drawn back to the willowy scientist. He looked at him…really looked. The man appeared exhausted, hair hanging limp around his pale face. Nearly a weeks old stubble barely hiding the chapped lips. His eyes were bruised and bloodshot from fatigue.

Young smiled softly at him, understanding flowing through his tone. "All right. I'll hold you to that."

Rush ate quickly, standing there by the water distributor and shoveling the liquid slop into his mouth. He was done in seconds, returning the bowl to Becker and making his way out. The group watched him go quietly.

The others quickly got back to their meal, topic changing onto something else just as light hearted and Young heard laughter break out moments later. His gaze though was still fixed on the doors where Rush was last seen, thinking intently. Turning back to the group, he returned his attention to the other hero of the day, Professor Eppes.

Kid looked even more tired than Rush did, but he could understand why. Rush had passed out for a good ten hours…Eppes only got a few hours of sleep before Brody had woken him on his orders. He felt bad about that…but when Rush was down and out for the count, they had needed Charlie's mind to pick up the slack.

The Colonel let his gaze rove the younger man's form, cataloguing everything he noticed. He could see that fingers were stained with white powder that Young knew was chalk. The professor's hair was unwashed, black curls dangling lifelessly in his face. His skin looked really pale, hands shaking as he examined the food before him. The bruising around his eyes was more prominent, and he looked a good deal thinner than the first time he saw him on Icarus Base.

He watched the kid lean forward, grabbed the spoon and pushed the food around in the bowl. His t-shirt sleeves rode up and he could see dark bruising on his bicep. It looked like somebody had grabbed him roughly. He frowned in thought; it better had not been one of his men. If they were roughing up the scientists, he needed to put an end to it.

Charlie played with his food in a daze and Young watched curiously as Greer shifted a little. The professor's eyes darted up to the other man's, a curious expression on his face as the Sergeant bumped his leg again. Greer smiled viciously at him, gaze almost leering. "Eat the food before I shove it down your fucking throat."

The Colonel couldn't hear what Greer had said, but he watched inquisitively as seconds later, Charlie turned back to his food and obediently began to shovel it in his mouth. Everett made an interested huffing noise before he glanced back to the door. It seemed Professor Eppes had found himself a keeper of sorts. He made a mental note to talk to Greer about making sure that Charlie got some sleep after they were done eating. A curious thought entered his head then. Perhaps he needed to go talk to Rush about sleeping as well. God knows the man needed it.

He frowned in annoyance as he realized that that meant he had to go track him down after he was finished here. But somebody had to do it…Rush seemed incapable of taking care of himself.

"That man," Young mumbled turning back to the group. "Is a lotta work."


	6. Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott and Young embark on a dangerous mission to retrieve water that goes drastically wrong. The ship is infested with possible hostile alien life. Greer becomes increasingly interested in Charlie. And Charlie doesn't know what the hell is going on.

_"I'm a very tolerant man, except when it comes to holding a grudge."_

**Water**

"Yeah," Riley started, arms crossed as he stared at the floor. "I read about these Chinese miners that survived a cave-in for six days by drinking their urine."

Greer sneered at the other Sergeant, disgust twisting his features. "I'm gonna go ahead and pretend I didn't hear that."

"Yeah," Hunter chuckled lightly. "You know what they ate? Coal."

"Coal?!" Greer questioned, head tilting to the side like a bird. Riley was reminded of some type of falcon that enjoyed tormenting its food before it killed and ate it.

"Yep," he shook off the scrutiny. "That's a true story. I mean, don't get me wrong…it was pretty stupid. Almost killed 'em."

"Water level's down again," the Colonel's voice startled the younger Sergeant provoking a smirk from Greer. "You're sure nobody went near that compartment on your watch?"

Riley turned to look at him as Young approached the two. He walked smoothly across the plated metal flooring, only a barely perceptible limp still evident. It had been just over two weeks since they had been stranded here, on this ship, and despite the want to go home, everyone seemed to be falling into a comfortable pattern. The only real problem, aside from having no way of getting back to Earth, low rations, limited supplies, and no control over the ship, was the disappearing water.

"Spencer came by and asked if he could have a look at the tank."

"Why?"

"He's a crazy person...sir," Riley added as if in an afterthought. "Anyway, I said no."

"Nobody goes in there without my authorization," Young made eye contact with both men, lips pulling down into a scowl.

"Sir," Greer replied in confirmation as Everett moved around them. He needed answers.

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"Maybe it evaporated when we went through the star," Eli offered as Young paced in front of them, each pivot making his limp more pronounced. He moved like a caged animal, all big, powerful, deadly, and exceedingly agitated.

Charlie turned away from the Colonel and focused on the screen before him instead, the pacing was making him dizzy. He let the numbers come to him as if in a daze, using it as a shield to block out the others. It didn't quite work as well as it used too. Charlie could no longer make everything but the equations disappear with just a thought, he had to work for it now. It made him uneasy.

"It's a closed system," Rush countered, eyes never leaving the screen.

"You know, all that water went somewhere. We're down to half of what we had when we got here," Young didn't quite snap as he turned sharply and made his way to the other side of the room. His knee throbbed with each step and his eyes pinched in pain as he forced down his discomfort.

"I don't understand this," Nicholas flipped through his notebook, biting his pencil in an absent gesture as he tried to reason out the possibilities. Young observed him carefully as the Scotsman scrubbed a hand down his unshaven face. His skin was pale, hair unwashed, and hands shaking just slightly as he pressed a button on the console. He looked dog tired, the kind of tired that happened with days on end of little to no sleep.

"Well, you're the one trying to get the recycling system up and running," Young continued, circling the room behind the group. His eyes darted to the console that the doctor sat behind, but it still made no sense to him. "Maybe there's a leak somewhere."

"No," Eli mumbled as the screen beeped negatively at him. "The ship says it's fine."

Rush sighed softly, right hand curling at the base of his neck in a gesture that Young was beginning to recognize as a combination of fatigue, stress, and anxiety. "If what you're saying is accurate-"

"It is," Young bit out, turning to the Scotsman.

"-then we've got a serious problem."

"Well, we wouldn't," Young began, the corners of his mouth turning down as he advanced on the seated man. "If you did what I asked you to do in the first place." The Colonel wasn't intentionally trying to start a fight, but it always seemed to happen with Rush.

Eli made a hasty retreat behind the young professor as Charlie observed the byplay in equal parts interest and confusion. The dynamics of the two 'leaders', for lack of a better word, fascinated him. In the past sixteen days he had observed their interactions with each other. Half the time they seemed ready to tear out the others' throat, and the other half they seemed to have a somewhat cordial understanding, if not acceptance, and comradeship.

It was the most perplexing bond Charlie had ever had the misfortune to observe. The data he had collected on them was inconclusive; 12.694% of the time they seemed to fall under the almost friend category, while 42.689% they seemed on the verge of killing each other. The other 44.617% they avoided each other like the plague. Their relationship shouldn't work, every scrap of data led to an unsavory conclusion of destruction…and yet it did.

Eli had once described their relationship as frenemies: enemies that were friends. In the end Charlie just found it confusing, if not captivating to watch the outliers in human interaction as they merged like a tornado, tearing apart everything in its path.

He had never seen anything quite like it in all of his years. The numbers made his head spin and fingers itch for chalk and a blank surface. Give him a few days and Charlie believed he would have them figured out and organized to his equations on human interaction and communication.

"Oh, please," Rush snapped at him, Scottish brogue thickening. "Can we stick to one problem at a time?"

Everett shifted so he was standing beside the smaller man, towering over his seated form. This close to Rush he could tell that the man was at his wits end, and Young prayed silently that the other wouldn't have another mental break and collapse. "Running out of water wouldn't matter if we just dial Earth, go home."

"I already explained that to you."

"The ship's recharged, the power reserves are full-"

"That's the point. They're _not_!" Rush snapped at him.

"Well, where are we _at_ then, Rush?!" Young raised his own voice and the cacophony of sounds intermingled and echoed around the room.

"Probably about less than forty percent of their original design capacity!"

Young chuckled darkly at the man. "Think I can't tell when somebody just pulls a number out of his ass?"

"What?!" Rush seemed to spit the word, face twisting into that of bewilderment as he stared at the Colonel, utterly perplexed.

"Uh," Charlie interrupted, apprehensive about coming between the two. "Actually that number came from me. He's not making it up." His mouth clicked shut as the penetrating gaze of the Colonel turned to him and Charlie hunched his shoulders as he shrunk further into his seat.

"Look," Rush sighed, frustrated and tired. Charlie felt a brief moment of relief as the piercing stare returned to the other man. He wasn't sure how Rush put up with such hostility daily, but little ever seemed to faze him. "If _Destiny_ was ever capable of dialing back to Earth, it was thousands of years ago when the Ancients originally intended to come here, but not now."

"Well, then, you're right. We have a problem."

"Yes," Rush agreed quickly as Young stared at him.

" _Again_ ," Everett added pointedly. Charlie saw Eli shift uneasily behind him as the two locked gazes and seemed to be having some sort of standoff. The young professor once heard Eli equate the two older men's bickering like that of a married couple. They always sniped and nagged unnecessarily at the other. It was routine, comfortable, and they seemed to find even ground in the arguments. It was just an added bonus that it kept their ire away from him and the rest of the crew…well, with the exception of Volker. Rush just couldn't stand him for some reason.

"Okay," Nicholas sighed again as he turned back to his screen. "Eli-"

Young cut him off. "Keep Charlie on this and get Brody. He's an engineer. I need to borrow Eli."

The Colonel strode out of the room more discouraged than when he had entered; only glancing once quickly behind him to make sure that Eli was following. Wallace darted across the chamber, giving Rush a wide birth. He trailed after the Colonel as he briefly made eye contact with Charlie. Eli couldn't really explain why, but it felt like Young had just won him in a custody battle as Rush stared frustrated at their retreating forms. He hated it when the parents fought.

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The Kino floated just above head level, rotating slowly around the room to take in all of the occupants. The line to the cantina was nearly out of the mess hall, moving slowly towards the food dispenser.

"Forty thousand liters?!" Volker questioned, turning to talk to Franklin who stood just behind him in line. Dale fisted his right hand; wincing slightly as pain shot up to his shoulder and he adjusted the strap to the sling.

"That's what I heard," Franklin confirmed, wearing an off white sling on the same arm as opposed to Volker's black one.

Dale scoffed as he turned and shuffled further up the line. "Well, we didn't _drink_ it."

"Let's just say it wouldn't surprise me if there was more water than they're telling us," The older man stated loudly, making Volker shift uncertainly as his eyes darted around the room to the soldiers seated at the tables and the few armed ones lining the walls.

"So, what? They're hoarding it?" Volker questioned quietly, trying to subtly make Franklin catch on and lower his voice.

"Big ship. You know the military," Franklin continued just as loudly as before. "As long as they control the water supply, they control _us_." Volker frowned as his eyes latched onto the Kino and his lips pulled down in suspicion. Franklin followed his line of sight, approaching the Kino with raised eyebrows and an almost swagger. "That's right. I'm talking about _you_."

Eli pudgy fingers snapped to the console, immediately muting the screen as Franklin continued to rant at the Kino. Blushing in embarrassment, Eli turned his gaze to the Colonel as the man smiled slightly at the display.

"Those two are harmless," Young told him, crossing his arms as he turned his attention to the math geek. "Keep it up. I need to know who I can trust."

Eli shifted uncomfortably in his hard metal seat, frown twisting his features as the Colonel started to make his way out of the room. "I feel like a spy," the disappointment clear in his voice. As a child he had always what it would be like to be James Bond, but now he just wanted to be Eli Wallace, twenty-nine year old gamer and math student. He wanted to go home.

"Eli," Young mumbled, turning back to the man-child. The younger male turned to him eagerly, expecting words of wisdom or reassurance. "Clean this room up."

Eli sighed loudly as the Colonel left, feeling like he had just been chastised by his father…and he had never even had a father. It made him feel weird. "Right…"

He turned back to the screen, pressing a few buttons and flipping another switch in order to go through even more footage that had been recorded by his flying camera balls. He propped his head up on his hand and gazed forlornly at the screen.

Behind him, unnoticed, a whirling vortex of tiny particles danced across the hallway, swiftly it made its way in the same direction the Colonel had just taken.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Greer strode down the hall quickly, his footsteps echoing loudly down the long corridor. The _Destiny_ was a huge ship, larger than the Icarus base for sure, and by far the largest posting he had ever been assigned. Not that he had actually been assigned to the _Destiny_ , no one had, but that was a moot point, one that would get him nowhere.

He was just beginning to find his bearings, since the science team had yet to find a working map that could be distributed; everyone else had to find their own way. The corridors all looked the same, the lighting was brighter now that they had adequate power, but it was still just on the slightly too dim side to be comfortable. The lights were all yellows, oranges, reds, and blues…soft colors. Greer was used to the harsh white from the Base, luminescent colors that filled every shadow.

The darkness made him twitchy.

He frowned, a feeling of being watched coming over him. Never before had his senses failed him and he wasn't about to ignore them now. Slowing to a stop, Greer turned around deliberately. Brown, nearly black eyes swept the hall from which he had just come, but he found nothing.

Brow furrowed in suspicion, Greer nearly started when Young walked around another corner. The Colonel approached him, limping just slightly as he leaned to his left side to get the pressure off of his knee. Slowing to a stop, Young took in Greer's apprehensive appearance.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, sir. Just had a strange feeling," he confided, hands tightening into fists as he tried to push away his suspicion. At least, he hoped it was nothing.

"Well, we just dropped out of F.T.L."

"Wasn't that."

Young frowned slightly, but pressed on despite the strangeness of the situation. "I'm on my way to the Gate Room. There's a planet in range. Come on."

Greer turned his gaze to the floor, unable to shake off the feeling that they were being observed. It put him on edge. Glancing down the corridor once more, the Sergeant turned and followed the Colonel quickly.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Young entered the Gate Room with Greer following just behind. He passed the open Stargate, the horizon making a strange rushing noise that one usually heard under water. "What have we got?" He questioned approaching the two behind the console on the left side of the room. Everett avoided the other as Rush was the one occupying it. He wasn't avoiding the man per se, but he was trying to evade the argument that was imminent when he interacted with said man.

"There's only one planet in range," Wallace answered for him as Eppes was scrolling through the readings. "The ship's already dialed it up."

"We're getting readings now." Rush added as Young moved to look over the young professor's shoulder.

The console beeped and suddenly the screen changed to show the footage from the Kino that had been sent through. "Whoa!" Eli exclaimed as he quickly lost interest in the Kino controls and turned avidly to the display of ice and snow. "Looks like we entered the Hoth system!" Young turned to the man and frowned in confusion as Eppes ignored them. "'Empire Strikes Back.'" The Colonel just blinked at him. "The second 'Star Wars' movie. Okay, I _refuse_ to call it Episode Five."

Rush interrupted his ramblings and Young felt a moment of fondness for the math nerd as Eppes failed to hide his amusement. "Minus forty-seven degrees Celsius."

"Bundle up!" Greer drawled as he gazed at the screen showing a blizzard in full strength.

Charlie frowned at the screen before a thought occurred to him. "Is that water ice?"

"Yes," Rush replied as he read the Ancient words far more quickly than anyone else could. "But the atmosphere's dangerously thin."

"And poisonous," Riley added from his position next to the doctor. "Point one three percent molecular oxygen, ninety-five percent carbon dioxide with a hint of argon."

"Woo! Nasty planet!" Greer commented, the words drawling together as he and the Colonel approached the open gate.

"The only candidate within range," Rush informed Young, tone certain as he gazed at the Colonel.

"We're gonna have to use the spacesuits we found, but if that brings back half a ton of ice, I'll take it," Young mumbled before he turned and addressed Rush for the first time since he entered the room. "Shut it down for now."

Rush shifted slightly, a sigh escaping his chapped lips as he complied. He understood why they needed to prepare, but the scientist in him was causing impatience. It also didn't help that a direct order from the Colonel, no matter how small, always seemed to rub him the wrong way.

"Lieutenant Scott, come in, please," Young spoke into his radio, making a silent observation of the battery life left. It would need to be charged again soon. He waited a moment, but there was no reply. "Scott!?"

The silence from the radio was filled with the loud hydraulics of the Stargate deactivating as the gate fully powered down and cooled.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Chloe moaned softly as she trailed a hand through Matt's short hair, fingernails scratching at his scalp. Their lips came apart for only a moment before they rushed to meet once again.

"There a reason your radio's off?" James questioned sharply.

They broke apart quickly, jumping slightly as they startled, turning to Vanessa who stood in the doorway. Chloe gazed at the military woman in confusion as she took in her tense posture and angry expression.

"Come in," Scott told her sarcastically while Chloe turned away in embarrassment.

"Colonel Young is looking for you."

He turned to Chloe and spoke quietly with her. "Uh, I think I'd better..."

"Go, go."

Matt shifted, grabbing his gear as his eyes met those of the Lieutenant. Once everything was in hand, he strode quickly away from them, leaving the tension behind in the room with his current girlfriend, and the girl that he was really never _with_ but had forgotten to tell her it was over.

James followed him with her eyes as he turned down the corridor. "What, you couldn't find a broom closet?" She bit out. Once he was out of sight, Vanessa turned back to Chloe who was shifting uncomfortably in the room. She smiled bitterly at the younger woman before she walked away.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Lisa Park grabbed the Ancient Tablet as she addressed the men in the room. "We're still working on the other suits. We're close to having a third one ready."

" _How_ close?" Young asked as Scott gazed at the third spacesuit in trepidation.

"A day, maybe."

Young didn't turn to look at the woman behind him as he too stared at the Ancient suit. "Well, we'll be back in F.T.L. by then."

Lisa tensed slightly as she became defensive and tried to explain. "Well, they're not in great shape. All these years, there's bound to be degradation."

"Well, keep at it. We're gonna need them," The Colonel told her before he finally shifted so he could speak to Scott. He had hoped for a total of three people but at least there would be two. If there had only been one suit ready, Young wasn't sure what he would have done. He was uncomfortable with the thought of one of his people out their alone on the 'Hoth' planet. "Looks like it's just you and me, then."

Scott sighed quietly as he approached his commanding officer, lowering his voice so he wouldn't be overheard. "I could take Kinnear, sir. She's done E.V.A.s before and you're-"

"I'm fine," Everett interrupted him sharply. His tone of voice quickly ending the discussion.

Scott nodded to him a little doubtfully as he bit his lip to keep his arguments to himself. Young was still recovering from the temporary paralysis, concussion, and twisted knee…but he was also his commanding officer. If he said he was fine, then he was fine.

Brow wrinkled in curiosity, Matt turned to the young woman. "How are we gonna cut the ice?"

Lisa turned to him, a look of consternation crossing her features as an aspect that she had overlooked came to light.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"Plasma cutter," Lisa began, holding up the said device for all to see. It had taken a full hour of searching through crates of materials to find something, anything that would have worked. Luckily, one of the crates had not only a working plasma cutter, but all of its supplies as well, including the portable battery. "Should cut through the ice like butter. Just don't get the business end anywhere near you."

Lisa set the cutter down gently back into its case before she turned to the two men who were adjusting the gloves of the suits. Around them stood several scientists as the took readings and recorded, double and triple checking to make sure that everything was in working order.

"Suit radios are voice-activated between you," Park turned away, grabbing the remote that Eli was holding out to her. "Press here," she pointed to the button. "If you wanna tie into the ship's communication systems."

Charlie watched the preparations with a sense of excitement and trepidation as the last of the arrangements were completed. Greer, the military Sergeant that had taken a strange interest in his habits, stood next to him. Since the incident with the power, the man had made it his personal mission to find Charlie at least twice a day. Either to get him to eat, sleep, or just annoy the hell out of him.

The professor had learned the hard way what would happen if he ignored the much larger man…he still had the bruises. Charlie rubbed his bicep in memory of the painful grip as he peeked through the fringe in his hair in order to observe the man. He had his arms crossed and tension lining his body as he gazed at his two commanding officers.

The young professor could see the frustration in the way that his jaw clenched and his hands fisted. It would be dangerous with three people and absolutely treacherous with two. There should be three people going, and Charlie could tell that Greer was uncomfortable with Young and Scott leaving him behind on the ship.

It was moments like these that the Sergeant reminded Charlie of a Pitbull, a dog loyal to a fault and extremely protective. Everything about him reminded Charlie of an overprotective guard dog. He was tenacious, and the professor had experienced it firsthand. He didn't know what to do with himself when left with no one to safeguard.

He saw Greer shift, lips turning down as he frowned…and then their eyes met. There was a heartbeat of stillness before Charlie flushed in embarrassment at being caught observing the other male. The young man didn't see the ferocious grin that the other gave him as his brown eyes darted around the room to find an escape. They settled on Doctor Rush who stood out of the way, leaning against the open bulkhead door.

Dark chuckling followed him as Charlie made a hasty retreat, tucking himself slightly behind the surly scientist. He was safest behind the Scotsman since most avoided him like the plague.

Rush turned to look at Eppes as the man practically hid behind him. The young professor flushed brightly and turned his gaze to the ground as he shuffled uneasily. Raising an eyebrow in curiosity, Nicholas followed the younger man's line of sight when the brown eyes peered cautiously across the room before returning to stare at the floor.

His gaze fell upon Master Sergeant Greer. The darker skinned man was eyeing Professor Eppes dangerously, the smile that graced his lips reminded the Scotsman much of a shark. Rush frowned slightly, a strange twisting sensation in his chest as he glanced back at boy genius. His arms came up and crossed in front of his chest as he shifted slightly, his wiry frame blocking Eppes from view.

Black eyes snapped to his, and Rush raised an eyebrow challengingly. Greer huffed in amusement, his smile twisting into something far more vicious, promising dark, painful things, before the Sergeant turned back to the two men preparing for the mission.

Hands clenched in _not_ fear, but maybe apprehensiveness, Rush glared at the man and grimaced slightly as his mind tried to rationalize his own reaction. There was just something about not only Eppes, but Wallace as well that demanded they be protected. There was an innocence about them that needed to be preserved. And it was his fault that Charlie was here, the least he could do was keep him out of harms way to the best of his ability. If that meant shielding him from unwanted attention from the military personnel…that was exactly what he was going to do. Though he was curios in what Charlie had done to garner the attention of such an unstable man.

He turned back to the group, keeping his eye on Greer. He didn't trust that man, there was just something about him that set his teeth on edge, something primal and violent that told him to run, keep away. Rush wasn't exactly sure what had just transpired, but he made a mental note to keep a closer eye on Charles.

"TJ," Young's voice drew everyone's attention back to the problem at hand. "You're in command while we're gone," he glanced around the room quickly, making sure his point got across. "Is everybody clear on that?"

"Oh, I'm sure we'll manage," Rush bit out sarcastically as Charlie shifted uncomfortably behind him.

Young chose to ignore him. "Riley, start dialing."

The young man immediately obeyed the orders and activated the Stargate. Behind Young, the gate lit up and began to spin. Park spoke a little louder, trying to be heard over the sound of stone and metal grinding and the chevrons locking into place. "Assuming a fair amount of physical activity, you have just over eight hours of air."

"It's…what," Scott turned to the timer above the door. "Eleven hours until the next jump to FTL, right?"

"Don't worry," Eli began, smiling sardonically. "You'll run out of air long before we leave you behind!"

Scott regarded him, slightly apprehensive but mostly amused at the younger man. "Thanks," he mumbled sarcastically. Eli just laughed brightly at him.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

The planet was dark, grey, and cold. Scott could feel the cold even through the suit. Walking in the space suit was a hassle, the bulky frame meant for zero gravity. He gazed around in wonder, watching the snowflakes drift in the high winds. He couldn't see very far, but what he could see was breath taking. "Beautiful, huh?!"

Young turned to him; the lights in helmet making him appear older and tired. "One deep breath and you're dead."

Matt looked at him, stunned by the pacifism. He stood there for a moment before blinking, resisting the eye roll that wanted to follow. Setting the cases down, Scott trudged over to the Kino before storing it away. Beside him, the Colonel kneeled on the icy ground while he took a sample of the snow that was drifting from the sky. Capping the clear tube, he activated the heating mechanism and they watched as it melted. The liquid turned dark.

Activating the remote attached to the arm of his suit, he contacted the ship. " _Destiny_ , this is Young, come in."

"Yes, sir, we hear you five by five," Johansen's voice replied immediately.

"I just tested the ice by the Stargate. I read concentrations of ammonia and several other toxic chemicals."

"How high are the readings?" Rush asked quietly. Everett would never admit it, but his Scottish lilt was comforting in the barren landscape.

Consulting the laminated paper that he had taken from the case, Young took a moment to read the diagram. It didn't look promising. "Off the charts."

"Well, you could try looking further afield," Rush sounded only slightly annoyed and Young took that as progress. It was a good day when Rush didn't immediately jump into insults and harsh criticism.

He looked up, across the vast flat terrain, about a mile out, there was many jagged rock formations. "Maybe on the other side of that lake."

"Is that really a good idea, sir?" Scott questioned, shifting uncomfortably behind him. "The further away from the Gate we go, the less ice we can bring back."

"Oh! I've got just the thing!" Eli's voice was heard over the communication system. It was slightly muffled though, as if he wasn't talking directly into it. "Give me two minutes," he didn't quite sound exasperated.

"Colonel, give us five. Eli has an idea." TJ replied and Young let his head drop. He was apprehensive about any of Eli's ideas.

"Uh, maybe there's fresh water in the lake under the ice," Scott commented, trying to find an ulterior plan.

"Minus forty-seven. The ice'll be ten feet deep," Young calculated. "We're better off finding a pressure ridge…something we can mine."

Matt turned back to the man who was still kneeling in the snow. "Sounds like you've done something like this before."

"Oh yeah…" the Colonel replied, smiling ruefully. "A million times!"

The ground quaked beneath them, the air rumbling around them. Young could hear the sound of a glacier cracking in the distance. "Woah! Did you feel that?"

"It's just a tremor. You know, the last planet I was on exploded!" He commented off handedly. " _Destiny_ , this is Young. We're burning through suit air. What's going on with this bright idea?"

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Greer and Eli stood side by side as the pushed the Kino sled down the corridor. They had extra supplies lying on the top, mostly consisting of some rope and a net. Greer would never have admitted it to the boy, but he was mildly impressed. He had even tested its weight capacity by sitting on it. It hadn't budged.

"Here we come, people!" Greer shouted to get the men to move out of the way. "Here we come!"

"Sorry," Eli mumbled as they guided it into the room. "It's impossible to steer by remote."

Rush walked around the odd creation. The surface looked like some sort of table or night stand top. Underneath, pressed up against the bottom and keeping it floating in the air was nearly two dozen Kino's. "It's fantastic, Eli. What made you come up with that?"

Eli blushed hotly in embarrassment. "A-actually it represents my most recent attempt to fly...but it should carry a ton of ice." Behind him TJ tried to stifle her laughter.

"Colonel," TJ spoke into the radio, failing to keep the amusement out of her tone. "We're sending through Eli's latest invention."

Greer walked it up to the Gate before gently propelling it through the event horizon. Seconds later, Young's laughter could be heard through the comms system. "I love it! The man gets a gold star!"

"How much will it hold?" Scott questioned as TJ gave Eli an approving smile.

Smiling back bashfully, the younger man answered. "Definitely more than you can carry by yourself."

"We're heading out," Young told them as TJ kept monitoring the situation from the console. "Keep the Gate active. We'll radio back when we find something." There was a long moment where they could hear them breathing heavily as they shuffled around. "TJ?"

"Sir?"

"Listen, if we don't make it back-"

"You will," she cut him off quickly.

"Well, two guys in million year old spacesuits walking around alone on an ice planet..." he trailed off, argument made. "If we don't make it back...you're gonna do fine."

Swallowing past the lump in her throat, TJ tried to keep the apprehension out of her tone. "Yes, sir. Good luck."

The radio disconnected and everyone in the room shifted uncomfortably before hastily finding something to do. TJ kept her eyes on the screen, before Rush came over and gently moved her aside. She couldn't really see what he was doing, but she doubted she could understand it if she could. The medic stood listlessly before someone caught her eye.

Charlie stood at the threshold of the room, looking like he was about to leave or about to enter. He was gazing at her, fidgeting awkwardly as if he was trying to decide to talk to her or not. She made the decision for him.

Approaching him slowly, she gently grabbed his elbow and steered him down the corridor. She saw Greer fall in step about ten paces behind her and felt Charlie tense as his eyes darted back to the intimidating man. Squeezing his arm gently to grab his attention, she smiled softly and released him when the younger man focused on her.

"Something bothering you, Professor Eppes?" She asked quietly, trying to put the nervous man at ease. She had noticed that he didn't seem to do well around soldiers, well…he didn't seem to do well around people in general. Not unless he was working on some sort of equation that is.

"Well, it…maybe it's nothing, Lieutenant. But…" he trailed off and her attention was caught by his fingers twisting around themselves before he ran a nervous hand through his curly hair. He had showered recently, but he still looked like death warmed over. His skin was pale and gaunt, hands trembling just slightly, and there was bruising under his eyes. TJ had to fight the sudden urge to take his temperature, check his blood pressure, and shove food down his throat. She wondered when the last time he had eaten…or slept.

"TJ," she replied. When his eyes darted up to her, startled, she gave him a gentle smile before continuing. "You can call me TJ." She had noticed that he also responded better without the subtext of titles and authority.

"Oh, okay. You can call me Charlie…I guess." The Lieutenant observed him as they continued down the corridor, Greer a comforting presence behind them. Charlie was cute in a boyish sort of way. He had the youthful appearance of one who seemed younger than they really were. But if she remembered Eli's off handed comment from last week, the professor was four years younger than she…and two inches shorter.

"What did you want to talk about, Charlie?" She hadn't had the chance to talk to him before now, and she was slightly regretting it. Charlie was polite and kind, if a little awkward. TJ remembered Greer commenting on the young man's terrible habits and lack of self-preservation. She made a mental note to request his presence in medical next time she got the chance. He looked way too thin and could probably due with a checkup.

"Well, I was wondering…that is, I was down in the…" he trailed off, gesturing slightly to the right of himself as he tried to find the words. "Engineering Department?" It came off as a question. It was understandable though, everyone was still getting used the situation and designated areas for departments kept changing as more rooms were discovered on the ship. "The room with the evac suits…"

"Go on."

"I think, well hope, that I might be able to help get it fixed. With Dr. Park's help that is," he added hastily. He spoke as if he was only half there, his mind already somewhere else.

TJ stopped walking and Charlie came to a stop just slightly in front of her. "How long do you think it would take?" To be able to have another suit would be a blessing. She liked it even less than Greer did when she found out it would just be the Colonel and Scott going planet side.

"Maybe six hours…" he trailed off, uncertain.

"Do it." Her answer was quick. Charlie's eyes darted hesitantly to the man who had been following them before coming to rest uncertainly back on her. "I want another suit ready to go just in case."

Nodding his head to her, Charlie turned to leave down another junction as he grabbed his radio. "Charlie?" TJ called after him. When she had the other man's attention she smiled brightly at him. "Thank you!" It was the best news that she had had all day.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"The level's dropped," TJ proclaimed loudly and not without annoyance. Corporal Gorman shifted uncomfortably as Greer gave her an incredulous look.

"Again?" Disbelief colored the Sergeant's tone.

"No-one's been in or out."

Her eyes darted to the two men, just as confused as they were. "Well, Brody said there's no leak in the system, so that leaves one alternative."

Gorman shook his head, "Who could steal that much?"

"That's a lot of water!" Greer exclaimed, trying to wrap his mind around it.

"Yeah, I know," TJ argued back. "But I don't know what else to do. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to know where we stand. Start a search."

Silence stretched around them before quickly Johansen left, returning to the Gate Room. The implications and consequences about what they were about to do wasn't lost on them. "Let's go, Gorman." Greer tone was sullen.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Eli sat broodingly on the stairs leading up to the gantry. He fiddled with the Kino remote, pressing buttons and reading the information provided as he sent two more out on patrol, hoping he didn't find anything worth reporting to the Colonel when he came back. Glancing up briefly, he wondered where Professor Eppes was and where that pretty Doctor Lisa Park had disappeared too.

He was startled out of his musings as the Gate deactivated and Rush strode in like a man with a purpose. "Dial it up again, Mr. Riley. We must maintain communications."

The Gate hummed as it powered back up and Eli couldn't help but stare at the man in surprise. "It just went off a second ago! Your timing is perfect!"

Rush looked up at him from his position behind the console. Glancing briefly at his wrist watch, he answered the curious student. "Because it's been thirty-eight minutes, the maximum time a Stargate can remain open."

"Well, see, I didn't know that," Eli commented as he fiddled with the remote some more.

The event horizon formed in a whoosh and Rush flipped quickly through his notebook before activating the comms. "Colonel Young, it's Doctor Rush. What's your status?"

"We found an exposed area of ice that looks promising," Young's voice came over the system, sounding winded. "Testing now."

"We're pretty far out," Scott told them as Rush jotted down some notes. "Can't see the Gate any more."

There was silence as the ice was tested, and then a loud sigh. "Still worthless."

Rush sighed softly, rubbing a hand down his face as his gaze fixed on the countdown. "Keep looking."

They could only hope that they found what they needed before they ran out of air.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Johansen strolled casually down the corridor as she made her way yet again back to the Gate Room. She seemed to be doing a lot of back and forth and wondered briefly how the Colonel put up with it. Her mode was lifted slightly as she had just come from the hold where the space suits were stored. Four hours in and it looked promising. Charlie and Park were only slightly behind schedule, but the suit would hopefully be done before The Colonel and Scott reached their eight hour time limit.

The rustling, shifting sound pulled her from her thoughts and she slowed to a stop as she tried to find the source. TJ turned slowly, surprise and apprehension coloring her features as she took in the spinning vortex in front of her. It seemed to move lazily as it approached her. Taking a few hesitant steps, it stopped just shy of reaching distance and swirled idly about.

It seemed to pulsate and move with purpose and for a brief moment the tiny particles took shape. She could see her face in the floating vortex, and the breath left her lungs as a form of intelligence was confirmed. She was stunned.

Face twisting in surprise, the form breaks and the swarm twirled sluggishly before her face appeared again, this time with her expression. The radio clicks and the swarm breaks, disappearing as it retreated down the corridor.

"Lieutenant Johansen?" Greer's voice barely pulled her from her thoughts.

"Go ahead."

"I found something."

"So did I," she commented distractedly. "Can it wait?"

"It's Spencer," he replied. "I can deal with him myself if you'd like, but-"

"No," she interrupted. "It's fine. I'll be on my way."

TJ gazed down the corridor for a while longer before she turned and left.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Greer grabbed one of the two large water containers at the foot of the bed when she entered the room. He shook it so the water swished around. It was nearly full. TJ's eyes latched onto the container, before sweeping across the room to the man being held in place by two Marines.

Spencer was a large man, nearly dwarfing the two holding him. And though he struggled, the two Marines kept him in place. "I didn't steal anything!"

"Oh yeah?" Greer questioned before he picked up the backpack from the bed, upending it and all of its contents onto the sheets. Nearly three dozen energy bars poured out of the bag. "What's this, huh?"

"Those are mine!" Spencer yelled, voice breaking. "I brought them through with me when we evacuated!" TJ stared at the stolen food in surprise and disbelief. To think a soldier did this.

Greer approached the struggling man. "You brought them through with you, huh?" He demanded, threateningly.

"Yeah!"

Greer grabbed him, slamming him roughly against the wall as the two Marines retreated. Though shorter by nearly half a foot, the Master Sergeant easily over powered him. Pressing his lower arm against the culprit's throat, Spencer immediately stilled as the threat of strangulation became apparent.

"Give me a reason." Greer begged; voice quiet and deadly.

"Hey, hey, hey!" TJ shouted as she grabbed the back of Greer's tack vest, yanking him off the other man. "Back off!" Immediately Corporals Gorman and Brenner moved to subdue the thief. "I don't have time for this. Lock him up somewhere. The Colonel can deal with him when he gets back."

Greer followed them to the door as the two men dragged the struggling Spencer out of the room. He turned back to TJ who sat heavily down on the bed and breathed a loud sigh. "You said you found something."

There was a long pause as she tried to find the words to explain what she had seen. "To be honest, I don't know _what_ I saw. I have to talk to Rush. You keep searching."

Greer approached her slowly. "Nothing we find is gonna add up to what's missing."

"I know," she replied quietly. "But we have to know what we've got. No-one's gone near the tank and it keeps going down."

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Colonel Young snapped off an icicle from the frozen waterfall that Scott was pacing around. Placing it in the flask, he activated the heating system before consulting the chart. "Come on, come on," he pleaded under his breath. They were nearly five hours into their search and they desperately needed some luck at this point.

Seconds pass, and then joy crosses his face as he laughed. " _Destiny_ ," Everett nearly shouted into the comms. "This is Young. We've got pure ice."

"That's excellent news," Rush's reply was lost in Young's enthusiasm.

"It's a frozen waterfall. We should be able to break it up into manageable pieces and haul it back."

"We'll be ready for you."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Charlie shifted nervously and glanced at his wrist watch as Greer lifted his mattress to look underneath. He was confused at his need to be present…he should be working on the suit with Lisa, they were almost finished. But TJ told him that everyone needed to be present when their rooms were searched to minimize conflict. Charlie didn't care either way.

"Busy day on _Destiny_ ," Greer commented amicably.

Crossing his arms, Charlie tried not to sound nervous. "I haven't taken anything."

Setting the mattress down, Greer grinned at him. Charlie couldn't be sure, but the smile may have seemed less hostile then the others he was always receiving from the man. "I don't think you have."

" _What_ are you doing?" Franklin demanded from the open doorway. Charlie startled briefly, wondering what the man was doing so far away from his own chambers.

"Checking for stolen rations," Greer's tone went from being cordial to sending shivers down the young man's spine. He shifted uncomfortably as the tension rose.

"It's alright, I don't mind," Charlie argued, eyes darting to the chalk numbers on the walls as a distraction. That was one thing that always got on Don's nerves, his inability to stay focused during conflict. He retreated to his numbers like they were his safety blanket.

"Confess, Professor Eppes! You drank forty thousand liters of water!"

Charlie blinked in confusion. "How much water?" Greer turned to him, blinking slowly in a way that seemed to answer his question. "But that's impossible. The human body can only sustain 0.21468 to 0.26917 gallons of water per hour. That's less than 800 milliliters. You would die from H2O intoxication from only 1.58503 gallons if consumed in that time period. Which you would have to do if-"

"I know," Greer cut him off. The Sergeant gazed at him in amusement and what could be construed as fondness. When Charlie talked numbers he didn't stutter or fidget. He was passionate and avid with his words.

"I'm just saying: we have rights." Franklin argued, gazing at the soldier in what could have been hate, or at least extreme dislike. Charlie couldn't tell which.

Locking his gaze onto the combative scientist, Greer approached him slowly. "I'm done here, Professor Eppes. I hope I haven't inconvenienced you."

"I understand," Charlie told him, surprised at the honesty in his own words.

Greer stopped and turned back to him, not quite leering as he nodded in appreciation. "I knew that you would." Charlie didn't know if he felt comforted at the familiar expression, or uneasy with the way that that the nearly black eyes gave him a quick once over.

"I'll see you later in the Mess Hall," Greer told him, threat clear in his voice. The implication of what wasn't being said was plain to hear. If Charlie wasn't in the canteen during meal time, Greer _would_ come looking for him.

The Sergeant gave him a shark's grin full of teeth and menace before returning his focus back to Franklin, his expression turning sinister. "You," he tilted his head, sneering at the squat man. "Next."

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Scott struggled with breathing as he helped Colonel Young heave a large and extremely heavy chunk of ice onto the Kino sled. The hover board wobbled before steadying, only dipping a fraction as the ice was piled on top. Breathing heavily, Scott straightened as they examined their haul. Everett sighed.

"This is never gonna be enough," turning, the Colonel grabbed the rifle and made his way back towards the waterfall. "Stand back."

Matt gazed at him in confusion before clarity struck him. "You've done this before, too, have you?!"

"At least five times!" Young laughed. Scott couldn't tell if he was being serious or sarcastic.

"D'you mind if I give it a shot?" Scott tried to keep the childish glee out of his voice.

Turning to him, Young gazed at his subordinate before seeming to come to a decision. "Remember, all we have are the bullets we brought with us," he said as he handed the younger man the rifle.

Muzzle aimed at the waterfall, Scott took care to only fire a small cluster of bullets at a time. He couldn't keep the grin off his face if he had tried.

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"So what are we looking at? Is it one little cloud of bugs, or are they all over the ship?" Charlie questioned as TJ paced back and forth in front of them. He tried to keep the apprehension out of his voice but he had difficult time of it.

Brow scrunched in thought, the medic eyes darted from Charlie to the stoic Rush who was standing in the corner, frown ever present on his stubbled face. "I'm not even sure that 'bugs' is the right word for them."

"Huh!" Eli exclaimed, nearly jumping from his seat. "What about 'cloud'?"

TJ sighed before she turned to the young math student. "Except the cloud was alive. It was almost like thousands of tiny..." she trailed off as she tried to search for the right word. "...alien creatures." She shrugged, looking at Rush uncertainly. He nodded solemnly at her in understanding. Some things were just unknown and equally hard to explain.

"Yeah," Eli scoffed; face twisting into what Charlie thought could be classified as disgust. "I have a problem with _everything_ you just said!"

Silence filled the small room and the math professor tried hard to not fidget. He didn't even really understand why he was here. Rush was understandable, he was the head of the science department. Eli could also be easily explained, seeing as he was the one who best knew how to control the Kino's and could send them out in a search grid. But…what use was he.

Rush's lilt broke the awkward silence that had filled the group. "What you've just described is, uh...well, it's-it's the same as Lieutenant Scott claimed he saw on the desert planet."

"That's what _I_ was thinking," TJ jumped in, a little more enthusiastic since nobody thought her crazy. "And maybe some of them followed him back here."

"We'd have noticed them," Eli scoffed.

"No, not if only a few came through the Gate," TJ argued back. "They're like tiny grains of sand."

"And then what?" Wallace shrugged, hands clenching in his lap as he tried to reason out of her logic, desperately wanting to find some flaw so it couldn't be true. "Started reproducing?"

"Well, if it's a living organism, then yeah, they would."

"Worse case scenario, with optimal conditions bacteria can double in as quickly as ten minutes. It's been fifteen days since we came back from the desert planet…that's what…" he trailed off, glancing at his watch. "Four hundred twenty-seven hours, twenty-eight to a day here so sixteen hundred eighty minutes, that's…three point seven four one four four four one nine times ten to the power of fifty. And that is only within a twenty-eight hour period. If they are anything similar to an asexual reproducing single cell organism, then what TJ described," Charlie paused, waiting for the confirmation nod from the medic. "They could overrun the ship in less than week."

Rush blinked at him, slightly astounded at the speed in which the mathematics was calculated. Tamara just gazed at him in amazement. When she looked at him she mostly saw a young man, she sometimes forgot the younger man had multiple PhD's and taught at a university. Hell, he probably graduated high school the same year she did.

"Okay," Eli broke the silence that had filled the small interface room. He wasn't as stunned by his teacher's mathematical abilities, not after learning under him for nearly two years. Though sometimes Professor Eppes still amazed him. "So now we've got aliens. What if they start bursting out of our stomachs?" He gesticulated the bursting motion with his hands as he started to pace around the room.

Tamara rolled her eyes at Eli's dramatic, if not overly emotional response. "I don't think they're dangerous. It almost felt like they were trying to communicate."

Rush nodded his head slowly, seeing the connection. "Lieutenant Scott used the same word."

"Yeah," Eli argued back. "At the time, you said he was delirious."

"Well, I was wrong," he snapped at the younger man before returning his attention to the Lieutenant. Eli shuffled away uncertainly at the outburst and Charlie winced internally. He understood Rush's annoyance, Eli was being very unhelpful and dramatic, but he didn't like the way that the Scotsman handled it. "What do you intend to do?"

"Well, I guess we should stop everyone from wandering around the ship," she gazed around uncertainly before Rush moved away from the console and gestured to it.

"After you."

Stepping up to the console anxiously, she looked at it in confusion before glancing up at Eli. "Um, here?" She asked, pointing to a button.

"Yeah, yeah," Eli replied, bouncing forward and fiddling with the console to activate the ship-wide communicator.

"This is Lieutenant Johansen," Tamara started after receiving the go-ahead from Eli. "We have a situation. It's under control but, as a precaution, I ask everyone to return to their quarters and remain there until further notice. Thank you."

Charlie watched curiously, a frown twisting his features as TJ deactivated the comms and stepped away from the console. "You're, uh...you're not going to tell them?"

"That we've got _aliens_?!" Eli butted in, looking at him like he was crazy.

"No," she agreed, glancing between the three men. "We'll keep it on a need-to-know basis. What else?" TJ asked. The question was asked to the room in general, but Charlie got the feeling like it was meant for Rush.

Nicholas shrugged at her, honestly surprised that she was consulting him. He thought that he was getting too used to Young's way of doing things, where he was only consulted long after the fact. He kind of liked the change in procedure.

" _You're_ in charge." Rush felt the need to remind her, asking silently if she was sure she wanted to go down this road. Charlie could barely even understand the intricacies of human interactions when people were being blunt, so of course, the whole situation flew completely over his head.

"And I'm asking your advice," TJ challenged him. "What else?"

Rush sighed, gazing at the bolted metal ceiling. "Always consider the greater good. That's it."

TJ gave him a look before she shook her head exasperated. Charlie was just left confused. "The greater good!" Eli scoffed as they all started to disperse. "Isn't that what Dumbledore said right before he condemned Harry to a childhood of a cupboard and slavery," his outburst was only met with three blank stares. "Oh come on! I refuse to believe that none of you has heard of Harry Potter…the books…watched _any_ of the movies! Professor, help me out…nobody…seriously!"

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The canvas net was difficult to untangle on a good day. With minimal visibility and giant evac gloves, the dexterity was lacking for the intricate process of unknotting the damned thing. Scott tried not to let the frustration take over before he just called it quits and tied it as is to secure the ice. It was good enough for him.

As he was securing the last corner, the ground rumbled and shook. He could hear a cracking noise further off, but not nearly far enough away. "That's enough ice for now," Young told him, and Mathew couldn't have agreed more. "Let's get out of here."

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"Gorman," the radio crackled as Greer's commanding voice came through the speaker, echoing eerily down the hallways. "Meet me in the Gateroom. We have ice on the way."

"Copy," he replied, hurrying his pace. The Ancient ship gave him the creeps. Turning the corner, he came to sudden halt as something caught his eye. There was a vortex of what looked like sand particles dancing in strange patterns through the air. Gorman gazed at it uncertainly, reaching for his pistol slowly.

The twister approached him quickly and the Corporal drew his weapon, firing three shots. The particles seemed to whirl around the bullets before swarming him in a flurry. He screamed in agony as a million paper-cut like wounds tore open his skin. Bloody hands tried to swat them away, flailing in vain. And then they were in him. They swarmed in his mouth, down his windpipe and _inside_.

His screams echoed down the corridor as he withered on the floor in agony. They went unheard except by the Ancient ship itself.

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Greer rushed forth as the Kino sled drifted through the event horizon. Quickly, he and some other Marines pulled it across the room as the Gate shut down. The twisted net was pulled away and the soldiers gathered the ice with gloved hands. The ice was shifted from one pair of hands to the next, down a long line before reaching an empty water tank where it was dropped right in.

Looking at Riley, Rush nodded his head slowly. "Dial back, please."

Seconds later the event horizon flooded the room before settling. " _Destiny_ , this is Young," the comms crackled. "How's it going up there?"

"Offloading the sled now."

"Well, hurry it up," Young didn't quite snap at the Scotsman. "We wanna do one more run."

There was silence for several seconds as Rush debated internally with himself. He knew that TJ wanted the situation kept in-house, but his growing respect, and used that term very, very loosely, for Young prompted him to speak. "Just so you know, uh, another matter has come up. We-we have it under control."

Eli scoffed at him, speaking quickly as he decided to not beat around the bush like everyone else was. "We have aliens on the ship."

"What?!" Young didn't quite shout as he hoped he heard the math student wrong.

Rush gazed at Eli in disbelief. He had only intended to tell the Colonel that there was a problem, not what the problem actually entailed. "They just shredded Gorman." And the madness continued.

There was a long pause as Young tried to get his thoughts together. "What the hell does _that_ mean?"

"Millions of tiny flying razor blades floating around the ship like piranha," Eli continued and Rush was astounded by the man-child's lack of tact.

"Corporal Gorman is alive," Rush spoke sharply through the intercom, trying to cut Eli off to keep the idiot from saying anything more. "Lieutenant Johansen is attending to him now."

"He's probably not gonna make it."

"Eli!" Rush snapped.

"That's it," Young interjected. "We're coming back."

"No-no-no, that's not necessary, Colonel. Eli is over-reacting," Rush exclaimed. Eli gazed at him in incredulity. "We believe the creatures are the same as those Lieutenant Scott encountered on the desert planet. They must have followed us back through the Gate."

"No," Scott argued, shaking his head in doubt. "I doubt those things I saw were dangerous, sir. They...they helped me."

"Corporal Gorman may have provoked them," Rush supplied. "We'll know more once he comes to."

" _If_ he comes to!"

"In the meantime," Rush continued louder to drown out anything else that may spew out of Eli's wagging mouth. "Lieutenant Johansen has ordered everyone to remain in their quarters. They're nothing more than a nuisance at this point, Colonel, but we desperately need more ice," he pleaded, hoping that Young would see his reason.

"All right," Rush sighed in relief as Young spoke. "We'll figure out what to do with them when we get back."

Greer handed over the last piece of ice, shaking his cold hands to get the blood to flow. Exhausted, he sent Rush a sloppy salute to signal to him. "Okay. Sending the sled back through now. Rush out." Seconds later the Kino sled was propelled back through the puddle and the Gate deactivated. Rush tried to control his temper as he turned to Eli angrily. "You're gonna have to learn when to shut up."

"You can't just-" he broke off when a burst of steam noisily exhausted from either side of the Gate as it cooled. When he continued, his tone was louder. "You can't just lie to the guy and expect me to-"

"Once back into FTL," Rush interrupted, matching his level of hostility and raising it. "It could be days before we find another planet capable of replenishing our water supplies. This ice represents a fraction of what we need to stay alive. We need _more_!"

"Yeah, I _know_!" Eli argued back, enunciating each word as he gestured wildly with his hands. He crossed his arms as he tried to stare down the slightly short man. Though smaller in both stature and build, Rush was an intimidating figure. "But that doesn't mean that you can-"

"Yes, it does!" Rush yelled at him, accent thickening.

"You're making it sound like we're-"

"Just," Rush talked over him. "Stop acting like a child, _please_!" He nearly spit the last word as he glared at Eli. The younger man stared at him, too stunned and hurt to reply. Seconds later, Rush the clear victor in the argument, turned and headed for the doorway. Releasing the breath he had been holding, Eli slumped over the console as he fought down his conflicting emotions. The others in the room tried to appear like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Knowing Rush's temper on Icarus, it wasn't a long stretch.

"We have to figure this out." When Eli didn't respond, Rush turned to him, voice stern. "I said _'we'_!"

Eli turned to glare at the man over his shoulder before he straightened. Rush quickly left, clearly expecting Eli to follow…and he did, if not unhappily.

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Greer held the flamethrower up, waving the lit end around as the others gazed at the brutally cobbled together weapon. "I say we torch 'em. You know, put some teams together, hunt them down."

"Where'd you get _that_?" Eli asked in admiration.

" _I_ can invent things too," Greer almost sounded insulted.

Charlie watched as Eli's expression morphed from awe to hero worship. The kid bounced in his seat in excitement. "Hey, we've really gotta work together on this project-"

"You know," TJ talked right over him. "Maybe the bugs are just responding out of self-defense."

"Self-defense?!" The Sergeant sounded outraged. "Did you see what they did to Gorman's face?"

"Yeah, I'm the one treating him, Sergeant. I saw _exactly_ what they did to his face," the words were grounded out as Tamara tried to keep herself from shouting at the man.

"Look," Charlie interrupted before _another_ argument could get out. It seemed like that was all anybody was doing nowadays: arguing. "We don't know what it is we're dealing with, and torching them may only serve to antagonize them further."

"Well, we hit them with something else," Greer turned towards him and Charlie had to fight his natural reaction to cower at the glare the other man gave him.

"For revenge," Rush interjected, drawing the ire man's attention away from the young professor. "That's great!"

"Well, we've _gotta_ do _something_ ," Eli told the Scotsman softly, earlier hostility momentarily forgotten in light of the current problem. "If we just sit around 'til they drink all our water, then we're gonna…" he trailed off as TJ rose her eyebrow at him. "Alien bugs show up and half our water disappears. Don't tell me I'm the only one who made this connection."

Irritated, Rush scoffed at him. "Well, obviously not. The question is, what are we gonna _do_ about it?"

"Okay, Charlie, what are we looking at for water?"

Charlie turned his gaze to her, curly hair shading his eyes as he rubbed the back of his neck. He felt anxious when everyone's attention was on him. Normally he was fine with it, he taught at a university, after all…but this was a different kind of attention, a different kind of problem, and definitely a different kind of audience. "Well…" he trailed off, calculating silently to himself. "If the…entity? Well, if _it_ keeps reproducing at an exponential rate, then their water intake will increase on the same level. That would give us…" he glanced at his watch quickly while he mumbled quietly. "Roughly thirteen hours and twenty-two minutes before the level hits zero."

"Roughly?" Greer commented, leering at him as he teased the smaller man. Charlie could feel the heat rising to his cheeks and he ducked his head before anybody could see him blush. By the Sergeants chuckle, he didn't think he was very successful.

"Alright," TJ continued, confused at the byplay between the sweet professor and somewhat crazy soldier. "Sergeant, you and your team go search for this...alien, entity, cloud, bugs, whatever it is we're calling them, and report back, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"And, Sergeant?" TJ added in afterthought. "No torching!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Greer replied without breaking his stride.

"Ooh!" Eli exclaimed, launching himself from the bench. "I have an idea!" Seconds later he was gone.

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Young stumbled under the weight of a large chunk of ice as Scott sat nearby, kneeling in the snow. The plasma cutter hissed in his hands as he attempted to cut through a huge piece, too large for either of them to lift, even together. Placing the ice on top of the pile, he turned to gather another piece.

"It's gonna be dark soon."

Scott stopped cutting for a moment to look up at the sky. Seconds later he was back to cutting, if he was moving a little faster than before, Young didn't comment.

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Greer carefully swept the corridors, the flame thrower preceding him despite Lieutenant Johansen's instructions. It certainly made himself feel more comfortable, and if the side long glances the other Marines were giving him, it made them feel more at ease as well.

He held up a hand signaling the others to stop. Gazing down the junction, he decided to turn, torch sweeping the area just in front. Moments later they were moving again, so quiet that if Greer didn't know Hanes and Markent were behind him, he would have thought himself alone.

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Charlie input the finished algorithm in the console before he plugged it into the evac suit. Park kneeled next to him, welding a torn piece together. Hopefully the suits personal computer would sync with the algorithm and give them a more definitive answer on the suits status.

Hours they had been in that room, repairing the last suit. That is when Charlie wasn't being called away to help deal with the alien, swarm…thing. They were further behind than he had anticipated, but barring any other interruptions, they were on the last leg of repairs and would be done within the next quarter hour. Charlie hoped it would work…he would rather have the evac suit ready and not need it then need it, and not have it.

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Eli sat at the console as he watched footage from a Kino. Rush stood behind Eli, eyes on the screen as he crossed his arms. It was cold on the _Destiny,_ the kind of cold that seeped into your bones and stayed there until you didn't even know what warm was anymore. He loved the ship, but Nicholas wanted to remember what heat felt like.

TJ stood just to the left of him, peering over Eli's shoulder as they watched Sergeant Riley on the screen. Hunter had just opened the hatch to the water tank and was gazing about the room in worry. "Okay," Eli spoke through the Kino. "Stand back."

Riley steps back a few paces, eyes around but seeing nothing. "Nothing's happening."

Frowning at the screen, Eli's brow scrunched in concentration before an idea struck him. Reaching up, he flipped a switch and the image became inverted, all whites, greys, and blacks. Instantly, the swarm became visible, passing by the unsuspecting Riley as they left the tank.

"Ohh! Yes, there is."

Nicholas took several shuffling steps closer until he was practically hovering over the younger man. "It's like vapor! We just can't see them," his tone was sullen. How could they fight something they couldn't even see?

"That's what they did when I first saw them. It's like they just disappear…" TJ trailed off, eyes riveted to the much larger swarm on the screen.

"It's exactly like Professor Eppes said. They're growing in numbers exponentially and consuming our resources without us even knowing it," he gave TJ an expectant look, not quite grimacing as he addressed her. "You have to get them off the ship."

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Greer swept around the corner, flamethrower in the lead as the dark corridors surrounded them. Two steps into the turn he paused uncertainly as his eyes took in what looked like a slow moving sand tornado. He placed one booted foot in front of the other as he slowly and quietly stalked the alien swarm.

"Sergeant Greer, come in," the Lieutenant's voice over his radio didn't make him jump, but it did startle him. Grabbing the radio, he pushed the talk button and spoke quietly into it. "I'm a little busy right now."

"The bugs are getting into the water tank every time we open the hatch," TJ continued, seemingly oblivious to Greer's silent warning. "Once we locate the main swarm, we're gonna have to find-"

"They're in front of me right now," he interrupted, still being as silent as possible while he crept closer to the hopefully unaware swarm.

Rush grabbed his radio quickly. "Don't antagonize them."

"I won't...unless they antagonize me first."

"Do they move when _you_ do?" TJ questioned. Greer signals to his men and they halted all movement. Cocking his head to the side, he observed the swarm before sending out a short burst of flames at them. There was an immediate reaction as the creatures made a shifting buzzing like noise and retreated further down the corridor.

"They do now."

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"What we need is an airlock," Eli mumbled aloud as he tried to work out the best way to get them off the ship without anyone else getting hurt. He wished his teacher was here, Professor Eppes always seemed to have an answer for everything. But the Lieutenant, and also the current highest ranking officer on the _Destiny,_ had him working with Dr. Park on repairing the last space suit. They were close to finishing it, but Eli wanted him done now.

"Unfortunately, there _are_ none in the habitable compartments of the ship," Rush informed him and Eli slumped over the console, out of ideas.

Tamara glanced back and forth between the two men when suddenly a thought came to her. "I know what to do."

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"This isn't gonna keep us going for very long," Colonel Young told his Second in Command while they fastened down the now completely untangled netting over the large chunks of ice.

"Maybe _Destiny_ 'll figure out we're getting short on water and find us a planet with nice fresh water right next to the Stargate," Scott's voice sounded wistful as Young started to tug the sled away. Matt followed behind as they began to trudge back to the Gate. "I mean, come on. We deserve a break."

It was Scott's scream that made him turn back, and Young could only watch in horror as the Lieutenant plummeted beneath the ice. "Scott!" He screamed, scrambling to the hole, stamping his foot on the ground to check for stability. "Scott! Can you hear me?"

"Yeah," he replied, wedged tightly in the crevasse about ten feet below the surface. "I'm sorry, sir, the ice just gave way."

"Are you hurt?" Young asked him, taking careful steps as he approached the hole.

"Negative. I'm OK, but I'm wedged in pretty good," Matt wiggled around a little bit before he gazed downwards. Swallowing passed the lump in his throat, the young Lieutenant couldn't decide if he was terribly unlucky or extremely lucky. He couldn't see the bottom of the crevasse. "Good thing, too. Looks like a long way down."

"All right, just hold on," the Colonel told him, moving back to the sled. "I'm gonna...I'm gonna throw a line down." Once he had retrieved the cable, he carefully unwound it. "Here it comes," he tossed the carabineer end down the hole, staying a good five feet back so there was minimal pressure on the ice. "I need you to tell me when you've got it."

It took several long seconds before Scott was able to reach the cable that was dangling over him. "Got it."

"Now, if you can manage it, run it under both your arms and fasten it across your chest."

"Done this before too, have you?!" Scott jokingly asked him as he struggled to do as instructed.

"Oh yeah! At least a dozen times!" Young tried to sound more confident than he really felt as he tied the other end around his waist.

It took a few minutes for Scott to get the rope attached to himself, and he was panting heavily once he was finished. There was an uncomfortable tightness in his chest from where the ice was wedged in around him, and he couldn't really feel his feet anymore. "Okay, I've got it around me."

"Now, I want you to pull yourself up. I'm gonna pull from this end. You ready?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Okay. One, two, three," Young heaved, groaning with the effort as he tried to haul the cable back, throwing his entire body weight into it. "Argh! Pull! Pull, Scott! Come on! _Pull!_ Pull!"

With only one hand able to reach the cable, Scott tried to propel himself up with the other, but he didn't even budge an inch. Above him, Young screamed with the effort before he dropped to the ground in exhaustion. "How stuck _are_ you?" He asked between his gasps for breath.

"Pretty damned stuck," he tried to wiggle around more but there was no room.

Young dragged himself back to his feet, tugging a little on the rope. "Is there any way you can dig yourself out?"

"I'm not sure," but before he could even try the ground trembled and creaked around him. The ice shifted and Scott gasped in pain as the pressure on his chest tightened. Seconds later the rumbling stopped and the ground was once again still.

"It's okay. That's passed," Young assured them, but he became worried when there was no response. "Scott?"

Grimacing at the tightness on his chest, Scott pushed down the feeling of lightheadedness caused by the inability to take deep breaths. "Still here, sir."

"All right, let's just, uh...let's think about this for a second," moments later he reached for the comms and activated the link between himself and the ship. " _Destiny_ , this is Young."

"Go ahead," TJ replied immediately.

"We've got a situation here. There was a tremor and Scott fell through the snow into a crevasse. He's fine, but he's just out of reach. I tried to pull him up but that's not gonna happen any time soon. How's that other spacesuit coming?"

"Uh, Charlie and Park are still working on it; everyone else is confined to quarters."

"All right," Young sighed. "Keep me posted. In the mean time we'll try to figure something else out. How's your bug situation."

TJ glanced over at Rush, silently asking for his input. His lips thinned as he grimaced, but he shook his head at her to keep her quiet. The last thing Colonel Young needed was another problem. "Same as before," she told him, ignoring Eli's wide eyed look of disbelief. "Don't worry about it."

"And don't you worry either, TJ," Scott told her, trying to sound optimistic but his voice came out strained instead. "I'll be out of here in no time."

"Good luck. Johansen out."

Eli glares at her as she deactivated the comms. TJ tried not to flinch at his accusing stare. "Everyone is lying."

"Yeah. The grown-ups do that sometimes," Rush told him, just blinking softly as the glare was leveled his way.

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A short burst of fire puffed out of the flamethrower as Greer herded the swarm further down the corridor. The swarm branched to the left and he followed it as it flew up the ladder, heading for a higher level on the ship and away from him.

"This is Greer. It's working. They're moving away from us as we move forward."

"Good job," TJ sighed in relief over the radio. "Keep it up."

Nodding to his team, Greer turned off the flame and swung the hodgepodge weapon across his back before climbing the ladder. The two Marines followed quickly after.

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Everett's knee throbbed as he kneeled on the cold ice, inches away from the hole. The ground was stable…for now. Shining the light down, he could see Scott a dozen feet in the crevasse, below him, the light faded out before ever reaching the bottom. Young estimated at least several hundred feet.

"How 'bout you lower the gun down and I shoot myself free?"

"Yeah, _that's_ good thinking," Young scoffed. "There's no way the bullets'll ricochet into your ass!"

"Well, maybe I could cut my way out with the plasma cutter." Scott's voice sounded strained.

"You get one hole in that suit and you're dead. Maybe there's a way for me to get down there."

"That's just as stupid," Matt told him as Young shot down another idea. It seemed they only had failing ideas.

'"That's just as stupid, _sir_ '!"

Scott chuckled lightly as he examined the ice that surrounded him. "The last thing we need is for both of us to be stuck down here."

Young heard the tremor before he felt it. Falling to his stomach, head just barely hanging over the hole, he rode the shaking out. It wasn't as bad as last time, thankfully, but he could hear Scott bite back a groan. Seconds later, the quake died out and there was silence aside from their breathing. "You OK?" Everett grunted as he pulled himself back up to a kneeling position. His knee throbbed painfully, but he ignored it.

"Uh, closed in a little tighter, but...I think..." Scott trailed off as he heard a hissing noise from around his waist.

"What? What?!"

He closed his eyes, just listening for a moment, but the hissing didn't stop. Dread filled him as he fought to speak, words thick on his tongue as he choked around them. "I…I think I'm losing suit pressure."

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The loud rock song made her fingers twitch in annoyance, and Chloe snatched the iPod up quickly. Her thumb darted around the wheel until a soft country sound filled the headphones. Knee bouncing to the rhythm, she lost herself for a moment and could almost pretend she was back in her room, at home, her mom in the kitchen making tea and her dad in the office. The vision was broken as a hand touched her shoulder and she found herself once again surrounded by cold metal and dark, dark space.

Turning her music player off, she pulled the ear buds out and turned to face Vanessa. Trying to hide the surprise and the automatic blush, Chloe smiled up at her. "I thought we were supposed to be confined to quarters," Chloe hesitantly looked up at her.

"Yeah. Well, I heard over the radio…" James trailed off, her voice thick and breaking. Chloe's blue eyes darted around the older woman's face, taking in the twitchy posture and puffy eyes. She looked as if she had been crying. "There was a tremor. Lieutenant Scott fell into a crevasse."

"Oh my God," she breathed, heartbeat pounding in her ears.

"He's okay," Vanessa assured her. "Just stuck."

Chloe stood slowly, legs slightly shaking but they held her up. "Do they have enough air?"

"Colonel Young says he's got it under control. I just, um...thought you would wanna know."

Their eyes meet, and suddenly Chloe understood. Vanessa loved Matt, like she did, but she was also releasing him. Chloe admired her for that, knowing that if she was in the same position, she didn't think she ever could give him up. "Thanks," she said, nodding her head slowly. She said it for the information, and for the honesty. But mostly, she thanked Vanessa for being the stronger woman.

"Yeah," Lieutenant James replied, voice laced in sadness.

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"I think the ice tore a hole in his suit," Colonel Young's panting voice filled the Interface Room and shocked Chloe to the core. She crept closer on quiet feet as the others had eyes only for the console.

"How big a tear is it?" Eli asked and Chloe bit her thumb in apprehension.

"I can't...I can't see it but I can hear it. It's-it's hissing out pretty good." Scott told them.

Rush shook his head slowly, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose as he calculated their options. "An hour at most."

"Plenty of time to make it back," Young countered.

"Yeah, if I wasn't _stuck_!" Scott yelled in frustration.

There was a moment of silence before the communications kicked in and Young's voice filled the small room. "What about the other suit?"

"Charlie is still working on it," TJ told him, shifting from one foot to the other. "Honestly, sir, I think I only understood every ten words that came out of his mouth." Amusement colored her tone, and fondness. Young chuckled quietly. He could relate, he had barely even knew the man, but the young professor had a way of getting under everybody's skin…Rush included if the rumors were true. "Shouldn't be too much longer, though…only a matter of time."

"Time which we are sorely lacking," Rush added with a sigh, words breaking strangely in the Scottish lilt. "Colonel, you have to consider the amount of time you have left now-"

Young interrupted him. "I'm aware of the damned time, Rush!"

Nicholas bit his tongue hard, forcing back words that would not help the situation. They were all tired and stressed. The days on the ship were too long, the nights even longer and no slumber could be found in the restless minds of the survivors. Rush hadn't slept in two days, their dwindling resources occupying most of his time as he tried to find out about as much of the ship as quickly as possible. Rush rubbed tiredly at his temple, pressing his fingers to the point of almost painful. "All I'm saying is: if you delay much longer-"

"Listen to me!" Young snapped at him, nearly yelling the words across the intercom. "I know _exactly_ what you're saying; all you care about is the damned ice! I'm not going anywhere without Lieutenant Scott, and that's the way it's gon-"

"Would ye shut the fuck up fer one secon', ye dobber!" Nicholas shouted at him, patience truly snapped. Silence surrounded them as Doctor Rush's accent thickened and broke. Eli stared at him shocked, having never heard the man spout profanity before and Young was reminded that though Rush had gone to college, he grew up near the seaport in Glasgow. He definitely had the mouth of a sailor.

"What di-"

Nicholas cut him off, hands clenching around the console as he continued to curse at the man. "Ye didnae even listen, I didnae say anything aboot the damned ice! If we cannae get the other suit working and ye stay there, ye'll suffocate ye dumb wop!" His hands slammed on the console as he propelled himself out of the chair. Seconds later he was stomping out of the room, shoving past Chloe as if he didn't even see her.

"Where are you going?" TJ called after him as he trudged down the hall.

"Tae fix the fucken' suit before that knobdobber tops himself!" Rush shouted back, not even slowing his pace.

The three in the room stared at his retreating form until he turned a corner. The silence was broken by the crackling of the intercom and Young's voice came over. "What the hell did he just call me?"

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Greer leaned around the corner cautiously, jerry-rigged flamethrower at the ready. The swarm swirled further down the hall and stalked it silently. He turned another corner, the two Marines just behind. The hive flowed effortlessly into the opened storage room. Greer waited a heartbeat before rushing forward to activate the door controls.

With a quiet whirr the door sealed, and the Sergeant peeked through the small window as the swarm danced around the room. "This is Greer," he spoke into the radio. "I locked 'em up."

"Closing off the ventilation in that room," Eli replied. "Okay, vents are closed. It should be airtight."

"What are they doing now?" Lieutenant Johansen asked.

Peering back into the room, he watched as the swarm darted from one end of the room to the other. "Looking for a way out."

"Let's hope they don't find one," Eli mumbled, worried.

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Planting his feet, Everett dug his heels into the small niche he made and pulled hard on the cable. Screaming in both exertion and pain, he yanked the rope side to side, adjusted his grip and tried again. It wouldn't budge. He collapsed, panting into the ice as the line became slack in his hands.

"Come on!" Colonel Young growled at both Scott and himself. He tried propping himself up, but his tired muscles protested and his knee flared in agony. Rolling over onto his front, he peered down at the man who was so close and yet so far. Grunting in frustration and anger, he rolled onto his back again and stared up at the sky. The falling snow hitting his visor and melting as he took in the white planet with the asteroid belt hanging in the sky, roughly where the moon would be if they had been on Earth.

"Sir. Colonel?" Matt called when he got no reply.

"I'm thinking."

"Go. It's okay."

"No it's not," Young argued back, eyes still riveted on the sky.

"Come on, sir," Scott smiled briefly as the hissing from his suit filled the silence. "We both know you've done this before, too."

Young blinked, fighting past the warring emotions in his mind. "I've done what?"

"Lost people."

There was a long stretch of silence before Young replied. "Too many times. I'm not...I'm not doing it again."

"I-I can't let you do it."

Sighing, Young tapped his head back into the ice. "You don't have a choice."

"Not that I'm counting, but this _is_ the third time in almost as many weeks that you've been willing to kill yourself and there's...there's a pretty good chance at this point I won't be around to talk you out of it again."

He sighed harshly, trying to find the words past his trembling throat. "You're a fine young officer. You've got a heart as big as a house. I'm not here 'cause I wanna die. I'm here because I haven't given up on saving _your_ ass, so just shut up and think."

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Greer watched worriedly as the swarm became more erratic, turning from a lazy twister to a full blown tornado. "They're getting pissed off," he mumbled into the radio. The hive swarmed the door in a rush and despite himself, Greer couldn't help but flinch. He stepped back a few feet as he continued to watch. " _Really_ pissed off."

Dark eyes riveted on the seam of the door, he stared in shock as a bit of the swarm worked its way through the crack. Greer sent a burst of flame at the door and sighed in relief when the swarm seemed to retreat for the moment. Grabbing his radio, he informed the rest of the situation. "A few of them got out!" He sent another burst of flame.

"What?! How?!" Eli asked in shock.

Greer and his team slowly backed away as he continued to send small surges of fire at them to keep them away. "We need a _plan_ , Lieutenant!"

"I'm coming down there. Greer, switch out with Hanes. I need you up here."

"What?!" Greer didn't quite shout as his team pushed further back.

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"This is beautiful out here," Young commented as the clouds parted further and he could see the bright stars as they lit up the sky. His eyes darted around the clusters before he remembered that this wasn't his sky, and he would find none of the constellations he knew. "Scott?" There was no answer.

"Lieutenant. Lieutenant?!" He called, propping himself up to peer down into the crevasse. The Lieutenant wasn't moving. "Scott. _Scott_. Scott!"

He surged to his feet, ignoring the way his knee almost buckled. Frustrated, he turned away and walked a few paces before turning back, helpless. His eyes turned to the sled, trying to think of a way to use it but no idea came to him, though another did. The ice was piled high, and the _Destiny_ 's crew needed the water. Young hated that he was even considering it.

Before any plan could solidify in his mind, he nearly collapsed into the snow as another tremor shook the ground. He took a few unsteady steps, eyes darting down so he wouldn't fall and he gasped in surprise as the rope was pulled into the crevasse. Young dived for it, grabbing at the end before it disappeared into the hole. He moaned in pain as his shoulders were wrenched, but he stopped to rope from sliding any further. Taking Scott's full weight, he immediately started to haul the cable back to him.

Struggling to his feet, he wrapped it around his waist and started to walk backwards. "Scott! Wake up! Scott! Goddamn it! Wake up!" The Lieutenants eyes flicker but he didn't wake. " _Scott_! I need you to wake up, Scott! Scott, come on!" Young shouted, hauling Scott's limp body up another two feet. "Wake up! Come on! Come on! Lieutenant!"

He grunted with the effort, booted feet digging into the snow but finding little purchase. Young took another half step back before his knee gave out and he slipped. The line started to go slack, Scott's weight pulling it further into the hole and Young made another grab for it but he missed. Just as the cable was feet from ending, another gloved hand grabbed hold and the Colonel stared in shock as another suited figure began to pull.

"Took you long enough!" Everett yelled as he got up once more and helped to pull the rope. There was no reply. Together they were able haul Scott's unresponsive body out of the crevasse. "All right, I got you," Young told the unconscious man. Turning to the other, the Colonel was able to get his first real look at their rescuer. "Greer, you're a sight for sore eyes!"

Greer smiled at him, but made a few gesturing motions. There was no verbal reply. Understanding dawned on him, the Sergeant had no communications. Gesturing to Scott, they each grabbed one end and hauled him up onto the sled, over the ice. It couldn't have been comfortable, but they neither had the time to unload it, nor the need to do so. They needed that ice.

"Hang on, kid."

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Hanes glanced anxiously over his shoulder as the Lieutenant approached him. He held the flamethrower awkwardly in one hand as he attempted to salute. "What's the plan?"

TJ walked quickly past him, two crewmembers followed behind with a large drum of water. "We open the door, they go for the water, we close the lid."

"All right. Who's gonna do that?"

"I am."

Hanes gave her a startled look. "Ma'am? I can do that."

" _I'm_ not the one with the torch," she told him and he looked down at the flamethrower guiltily.

"I'll stand back; torch them if they get out," he told her, hefting the macgyvered weapon higher.

"No. I want you out of sight," their eyes met and Hanes fought down the anger that welled up in him. She didn't trust him.

"All right," he replied. With a signal to the others, they all retreated quickly down the corridor, leaving TJ alone.

Removing her tac-vest she glanced through the window before activating her radio. "Eli, I'm ready. Make us a clear path to the Gateroom. Seal off everything else."

There was a moment of silence over the radio before Eli replied. "You're good."

TJ sighed softly, squaring her shoulders back as she geared herself up for what was to come. "If this doesn't work, lock this compartment off from the rest of the ship."

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Young walked slightly behind Greer as they marched towards the Gate. Greer was pushing the sled as Young tried to catch his breath. Scott laid still and unconscious, unchanged from when they last checked. " _Destiny_ , this is Young. I'm on my way back with Scott. Come in."

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Nervously, TJ moved away from the door as the swarm buzzed erratically around the room. "Okay," she spoke calmly into the radio. "Let 'em out."

The lock spun and the door slid open with a whirr. TJ gasped softly as the swarm surged out of the room, towards her. She lifted the lid of the drum higher, taking a half step back. The hive whirled over the top of it, as if debating whether it wanted to attack her or drink the water. An eternity seemed to pass before the swarm dived into the drum.

Johansen only waited a heartbeat after they were all in before she slammed the lid down and locked it. "Okay, I've got 'em!"

The others ran from around the corner, they grabbed the drum and lifted it. "All right," she spoke into the radio as they all ran down the corridor. "Dial the Gate. We're on our way."

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Greer paused as Young began to dial the Gate, but the action was cut short as an incoming wormhole tore into existence. Exhausted, the Colonel spoke into the radio. "This is Young. We're almost at the Stargate with Scott. Shut it down so I can dial in."

"Colonel," Rush answered him, sounding much calmer than the last time they had talked. "We're about to send these alien bugs through to the planet. We've no other choice."

"What?" Young questioned looking to Greer but he could receive no answer.

Rush continued giving instructions. "I need you to step away from the Gate and remain as still as possible. They're coming through now."

Seconds later, the metal barrel soared out of the Gate and crashed several feet away from them. Greer took a few steps back as the lid buckled. The sides of the drum started to press outwards as if something was beating on it before the lid burst open and the swarm raced out, swirling angrily around the Gate. They held their breath, praying that it would just move on and both men had to fight not to flinch when it came at them.

It hovered over Scott's body, condensing into a tight ball above his visor. Scott blinked opened his blurry eyes and looked up at the strange creatures as they shifted to form his face. Young and Greer stared in amazement as the face nodded at Scott before it broke formation and swirled away. Seconds later the Gate shut down and Young quickly grabbed his remote and started to dial.

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The Kino sled was propelled through the Gate and everyone rushed forward to pull it further into the room. Moments later Greer and Young stepped through, the Gate shutting down as they yanked their helmets off. "Get his helmet off!"

Riley tugged at the front of Scott's helmet until he could pull it up and off while others began to shift the chunks of ice off the sled. TJ rushed forward, pressing her fingers into his pale neck. "His pulse is thready but he's breathing. Let's get him out of here."

Chloe moved forwards just as the small convoy started to make its way to the infirmary. She grabbed one of his hands, smiling softly down at him as he gazed up at her. Eli trailed after like a lost puppy. The others in the room quickly dispersed as they carried the chunks of ice to the water tank, leaving Colonel Young alone with the one man he really didn't want to see.

Rush stepped towards him, opened water bottle in one hand. He stopped several feet away, and they just stared at each other, sizing each other up before Rush made the first move. The doctor handed the exhausted man the water and Young grabbed it awkwardly with his suit glove. Drinking deeply, he nearly gagged as he took too much. They stood silently together for a moment, an awkward peace descending on them.

"I feel I must apologize, Colonel," Rush began and Young couldn't help the shocked look that came across his face. "What I said was uncalled for and out of line."

Everett tried hard, but he couldn't stop the chuckle that left him. "Rush…" he sighed the word in exasperation. "I have no fricken' clue _what_ you said."

The embarrassed flush that crossed his face was almost endearing and Young nearly forgot that he disliked this man passionately. Another time, another place, Everett thought that they could almost be friends…almost. "Yes, well," Rush cleared his throat. "Let's leave it at that, then."

Everett watched in amusement as Rush made a quick retreat. "Doctor Rush!" Nicholas turned to him hesitantly. "What did you call me?" When the smaller man raised a single eyebrow in the way that Everett had never been able to get the hang of, he clarified. "When you were shouting at me, you called me something. What was it?"

Rush smirked at him, embarrassment seeming to have left him. "I called you many things, Colonel." Seconds later he was gone.

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Greer trudged down the hallway, making his way to the room where the suits were stored. He wanted out of that damned thing, and quickly. After he would go check on his idiot Lieutenant before grabbing some grub and hitting the sack. The boots clomped heavily on the metal floor, echoing loudly down the corridor,

The Sergeant paused at the threshold to the room. It looked as if a storm had ripped through it, tools were scattered everywhere, papers and tablets strewn about the floor, chunks of metal propped precariously along the wall. And in the center of it sat the baby genius himself. Charlie Eppes sat at the only desk, curls covering his face as his head rested on the metal. Kid looked exhausted, and Greer hated to wake him, but it was a two man job to get out of the suit.

Chuckling deviously, Greer stomped loudly into the room, purposefully kicking some of the equipment to add to the noise level. Charlie shot up like he had been shocked, eyes darting around as tools clattered around on the floor. It took a moment, but eventually clarity seemed to come over him as he gazed at the soldier.

"Oh, good, you're up," Greer smirked at him, grinning when Charlie seemed to glare at him. "You can help me get out of this thing." The professor seemed to be debating with himself, and Greer could see his brown eyes dart to the door. The Sergeant couldn't hide his amusement. "I ain't askin'."

It took them nearly an hour to get him out of the suit and put it back on the table. By the time they were finished, Greer was starving and Charlie looked like he was about to keel over. Eppes gazed around the room in a daze before he started to make his way to the door, nearly tripping over every item in his way and stumbling into the empty table meant for another suit.

Shaking his head in exasperation, Greer caught up to him quickly. "Come on, little genius," Greer smirked viciously, his large hand wrapping completely around the smaller man's bicep. Charlie's doe eyes darted up to him in confusion and fear, but Greer just led him carefully out of the room. "Let's get you to bed."

Once he got the professor back to his quarters, Greer had to meet with the Colonel. After that he was going to get two helpings of rations and eat all of it, and then he was going to sleep for eight full hours. When he awoke, he was going to track Eppes' far too skinny ass down and drag him to the mess hall. Kid didn't eat nearly enough.

Hesitant at first, fatigue eventually won out and Charlie followed obediently as Greer kept a tight grip on him. The man could barely hold himself up as it was, and he was all skin and bones. It took them nearly fifteen minutes before they reached the professor's quarters. Pressing the controls, the doors slid open and Greer led Charlie to the bed.

The younger man sat down heavily, leaning forward to kick off his boots before he flopped backwards, legs dangling off the bed, fast asleep. Greer chuckled softly, shaking his head in exasperation. Leaning down, he hauled the much too light man further up on the bed and pulled the sheet over him. Hopefully he would sleep for at least an entire night shift.

Greer left quickly, radio crackling as Young called him. Charlie was left sleeping soundly.

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Spencer's leg bounced agitatedly as he sat on the uncomfortable bench. Just when the boredom and enclosed space seemed to be getting to him, the doors unlocked and slid open. Jumping to his feet, he came to attention as Colonel Young and Master Sergeant Greer came into view.

"Sergeant Spencer," Young began, staring up at the taller man. "You step out of line again and I will deal with you personally. Understand?"

Spencer walked forward, almost passing the Colonel before he deigned to answer. "Yes, sir."

Greer turned his head, watching the other man walk off down the hall. There was an uneasy feeling in his gut. He shifted slightly, speaking thoughtfully over his shoulder to Young. "I don't think he does."

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Colonel Young sighed softly before he trudged out of his office, looking for Eli. He maneuvered quickly around the small group that had been hovering by his door for the past several minutes. "Colonel," Franklin began, "I need to talk to you about the behavior of one of your men."

"No, that can wait," Park spoke over him. "We need to go over the new rationing amounts before the next-"

"Colonel," Volker cut her off. "I was scheduled to use the communication stones this morning."

Young continued down the hall, ignoring them as they continued to holler out their problems. "Colonel?"

"Colonel!"

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Everett shifted uncomfortably before his eyes darted around the room, resting everywhere but the Kino. "At approximately zero three hundred hours ship time, Corporal Gorman succumbed to injuries sustained in an encounter with an alien entity. Lieutenant Johansen did everything that she could. I intend to hold appropriate services tomorrow at sixteen hundred hours."

Glancing at the remote in his hand, he turned and called over his shoulder as the button he needed eluded him. "How do I turn it off?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact Time: I wanted to try a Scottish accent, thought it would be interesting, and then thought that you would appreciate a translation so here goes. Dobber: a dick, a tosser, an idiot. Didnae: didn't, did not. Aboot: about. Cannae: can't, cannot. Knobdobber: a tosser of the highest order, the king dick. Tops: to kill.
> 
> Helpful translation: "Tae fix the fucken' suit before that knobdobber tops himself!" = "To fix the fucking suit before that dick kills himself!"
> 
> Hope that helps.
> 
> -Theta


	7. Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Young, Eli, and Chloe get stuck on Earth. Young makes a special visit. Telford has a serious power trip with a plan that could endanger the crew. Rush gets devious and Charlie gets hassled.

" _I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up alone…it's not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel alone."_

**Earth**

TJ sighed as she pulled the stethoscope out of her ears and jotted down notes on the chart. She shook her wrist and flexed fingers as her hand cramped, the pain causing her handwriting to barely be legible. Colonel Young turned to her as she walked around the table, boots echoing in the quiet room.

The clicking sound of the pen light had Everett wincing even before she shown it in his eyes. A gentle thumb on his brow to keep him from moving, Tamara tested his pupil reaction before replacing the tool in her kit. Confusion crossed his features as he gazed at her, the burning need he used to feel but a shadow in the pit of his stomach.

"What happened to us?" He questioned softly as she grabbed his wrist, turning it to take his pulse.

TJ's gaze flicked to him before she looked back down. "Don't."

"I'm sorry," he replied, grabbing her hand as she tried to pull away. "I never meant to hurt you."

Everett covered her hand in his much larger ones, squeezing in reassurance before he released his grip. Her hand fell limply to her side, confusion and lingering hurt crossing her features. As Young took in her gaze, one which used to captivate him so, he found he felt no desire for her anymore. A frown twisted his lips and Everett sighed.

"Colonel?" A voice called, it wasn't hers. Young jolted awake the dream fading as reality took over and Everett found he was alone in his office, Lieutenant Scott standing at his door. "Sorry, sir. They're waiting."

Yawning widely, he pulled himself forward to the edge of the couch and checked the time. Nearly three hours of uninterrupted sleep, that was almost a record. Too bad he had to be somewhere.

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"Sorry," Colonel Young mumbled as he walked slowly into the room. Camile Wray, the representative from IOA looked up from the table, annoyance crossing her features briefly before she diplomatically pushed the emotion aside.

"We're late," Camile replied, glancing briefly at the activated platform and the communication stone before her. Her hands were grasped tightly together, but her fingers shook despite the effort. If Young noticed her anxiousness, he didn't comment on it.

Sergeant Riley glanced at his watch and noted the time on the clipboard as Young took a seat across from Wray. Lips pressed tightly together, Camile grabbed the blue stone with nervous fingers before slowly placing it upon the platform within the white ring closest to her. Young quickly copied her movement, and then he was somewhere else.

The Colonel blinked his eyes rapidly for a few seconds as he got used to the sharper vision, taking in the sight of the small room within the Pentagon. The uniform he was wearing was military, the name Hamilton on the right side of his chest. A young woman sat across from him, long brown hair and slight Nordic features. Her position shifted and Young could see Camile through the posture she took.

"You're late," David's voice drew his attention to the only exit in the room. Colonel Telford stood in camouflage uniform like they all did, hands crossed over his chest and oozing irritation with every breath.

"It's my fault," Young quickly replied, pulling himself from the chair, braced for pain that never came. The body he was in felt young, a lot younger than himself by at least fifteen years. It felt good not to have his knee ache as a constant reminder in the back of his head of his age. Everett admitted quietly to himself that he should have retired years ago.

It was too late for that now.

Telford glanced briefly at the two before leading them out of the room. His long strides had Camile tripping slightly as she got used to the slightly shorter body. Everett grabbed her elbow briefly to help her balance and she smiled softly at him. Seconds later had them both jogging to catch up with the other Colonel, who didn't notice or didn't care that they had fallen behind.

The walk to the Homeworld Command conference room was short and only took a minute, but it felt much longer than that to Colonel Young. He could not explain it, but Everett had a sudden feeling of trepidation come over him as he crossed the threshold into the room and took in those gathered around the table.

There were at least twenty people in the small room, several scientists and high ranking military personnel seated around the table, even more standing. Young placed a few of the faces as IOA representatives. "Thanks for joining us, Colonel," General O'Neill tossed an orange between his hands before he started to peel it.

"Sorry, sir," Young replied, stepping further into the room as he glanced around suspiciously. "I wasn't expecting a party."

Telford immediately stepped in before the General could reply. "We may have figured out a way to get you home."

Brow furrowed, Everett's eyes darted to Camile. She gazed back at him with hope and shock at the news. "Surprise!" Jack grinned at them. A smile tugged at her lips, but a frown morphed his. She only had eyes for the smiling General, but Young's were taking in the faces of the others gathered in the room. He had a feeling he was not going to like what they had to tell him.

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"Now, the power flow issues are obviously the biggest variable," a scientist named Williams stood in front of the projector. He looked young, not as young as their own resident mathematician, but Williams exuded a sense of narcissism that only Rush could get away with. Young didn't like him. "But our simulations are encouraging. It's time to take it to the next level."

Camile shifted in her seat next to him, clearly interested as the lights turned on. She watched Young rub his eyes, mouth pinched and hand fisted under the table. Unease curled at the pit of her stomach as she took in the Colonel's own reaction to the news, but she refused to let it show in her face.

"Any questions?" O'Neill asked casually, but the majority of the room could easily tell that he had been dozing off for the three hours it took to present the 'solution'.

There were several seconds of silence as she took in the expressions of those around the room. Young was doing the same thing, but he hid it better. "It sounds dangerous," she started casually, face blank of all emotion.

"The IOA fully supports the implementation of this plan," an IOA representative commented calmly as he took a drink from his glass. He seemed unconcerned about the whole plan. It took several seconds to place him, but he looked vaguely familiar. It hit her then as she took in his relaxed posture. His name was Strom, and he was so far above her that Camile had only seen him in passing.

"I've seen it for myself: the situation on board is dire and justifies the risk," Telford inserted himself smoothly into the conversation. Camile watched as those around her began to nod their heads in agreement.

"Look," Young sighed, straightening in his chair. "I'm not gonna pretend to understand everything you guys are talking about, but it sounds like there's a chance that this _plan_ could end badly." He said the word plan as if it were something dirty. Wray felt herself agreeing silently.

"You wanna get those people home. So do we," Telford argued, complete conviction in his tone.

Young gestured to the scientists, unconvinced. "I'm just saying maybe these guys can do a little more calculating."

"The fact is," Williams interjected, arms crossed with impatience. "We are at the stage where a practical attempt is the only way to get any more hard data."

Telford interjected without cutting the scientist off. "The goal is to save lives."

"And we don't want to put the ship at risk," Strom supplied in a placating manner.

"All we're asking is that you try," Williams gave Young a pointed look.

Colonel Young had to force himself to remain relaxed, even though he wanted to clench his jaw and cross his arms. "Well, this is something I would have to take up with everyone on board."

It was not a no, but it clearly was not a yes either. "Colonel," O'Neill interjected, standing smoothly as he gazed down at the other man. "My office." Young did not hesitate as he swiftly followed the elder man out of the room. Camile watched them leave as she prepared herself to face the scientists alone.

"Look," the General began as the door closed behind them. "If it makes you feel any better, Colonel Carter saved my ass dozens of times, using all kinds of whacky science I didn't understand."

Young stood at rest as Jack took position behind his desk. "Well, I can't force people to do something they don't wanna do."

"You're in command of that ship!" O'Neill argued, palms flat on the desk as leaned forward to get his point across. "It's not a democracy."

The Colonel glanced away briefly; shaking his head as he returned his gaze to the one man he respected most. "I'm sorry, sir. It's just...it's not that simple."

"Yes! Yes, it _is_! A United States Senator is dead. His daughter and dozens of other people are trapped a _billion_ light years away from home. The President wants it done."

Young sighed softly; eyes riveted to the floor as he prepared himself for what he knew must be said. "Sir, with all due respect-"

O'Neill inserted himself, hoping to keep Young from the beginnings of insubordination. "You're being given a direct order, Colonel."

Everett returned his gaze the General, eyes locked a voice firm. "And I'm telling you that, regardless of the consequences to my standing, I'm going to take the situation under advisement. I will let you know my decision tomorrow."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Camile smiled softly as her eyes hungrily took in the sight of the park and the people in it. A woman was roller skating down the sidewalk, jacket tied around her waist as the sun broke through the clouds. Several children shrieked in delight on the playground and a dog barked as a young man jogged by.

"Are you sure you don't want anything?" Strom asked as he turned to her, returning the mustard to the cart.

It took Camile several seconds to answer, mind lost to the joy of being back on Earth and off the ship. Even so, she found the absence of the constant hum of the _Destiny_ disconcerting. "Oh, I'm fine," Wary replied absentmindedly as Strom paid the hotdog vendor.

He placed a hand on her back, gently steering her away from the stand as he gestured to the park with his hotdog. "Must be nice to get out, I imagine."

"It is," she smiled at him as he dropped his arm and took a bite of his lunch.

Wiping some mustard from his lips, Strom swallowed as they started a leisurely walk under the leafless trees. It was nearly winter; sunny enough to not be cold, but there was a definite chill in the air. "Everyone's _very_ impressed with how you're holding up under the circumstances."

She glanced at the grass beneath her feet, taking a moment to enjoy wind on her face before she drew her attention back to the man. "I'm doing my best."

"You're our eyes and ears now," Strom told her, gesticulating with his free hand as they wondered along the path. "Your life…certainly the lives of everyone aboard, is the first priority, but you have to understand there's a lot at stake here."

It was only then that the smile left her face. The outside world lost a little of its joy, even as she squinted from the sunlight. Actual God-given sunlight. She could not remember the last time she felt such a thing. "You passed me up for promotion four times. I never really got a straight answer as to why."

"You are uh," Strom trailed off as he pulled his thoughts together. "A highly trusted, well respected member of this organization. You would not have been on Icarus in the first place if you weren't."

A self-deprecating smile crossed her features. "The point is: I know there's no way in hell you'd be talking to me right now if you had a choice," Camile stopped walking. She turned to face him, lip curling in a snarl as anger and suspicion warred with her natural caution when dealing with such a powerful person. "So, please, can we just cut to the chase?"

Strom grinned at her, amused and impressed with her gall. His gaze turned serious after a second, a predatory look in his eye that made her nervous. "Make this happen."

Camile scoffed lightly, the muscle memory of her temporary body falling into a parade rest. She was so focused on not digging herself into her own grave that she did not even notice. "I'm not a scientist. How can I do that?"

"You have influence," he told her, taking a step closer and crowding into her personal space. It took everything Camile had not to back away. "The people on board need to believe it'll get them home."

"Even if, in reality, it can get us all killed," she bit out, furious.

Strom leaned closer, practically leering down at her as a group of young mothers jogged by with strollers. "Not what I've been told."

"Why are you pushing so hard?"

" _If_ this works, we think we might be able to use the data to re-engineer the process in one of our ships here in this galaxy."

It only took seconds for Wray to connect the dots. "Dial a Gate to _Destiny_ without an Icarus-type planet."

"Yes," he replied, nodding his head as the implications of what that could mean finally sunk into the woman's mind. "And get the team that was supposed to go in the first place back on board. Now that we know where the ninth chevron leads, this mission has taken on even more importance."

"Why isn't Rush here?" Camile shifted her weight, glancing automatically for Colonel Young's calming presence before remembering he had left before she had. She had gotten used to his company, always just a radio click away…she had gotten used to a lot of things on board the _Destiny_ that she never thought she would.

"Ah," Strom rolled his eyes before his gaze settled on something further off. "We're not convinced Rush wants to come home." Camile blinked and shifted her gaze as she thought of the possibility. If Rush did not want to go home, then he would not let anyone else leave either. She questioned whether or not the Scotsman was capable of such a thing. It chilled her to the core when she realized that yes, Rush was certainly more than capable, and possibly willing to sabotage their chances of getting home. "And do I have to remind you how much you have to gain personally in all of this?"

She returned her gaze back to him slowly, a bitter smile twisting her lips. "Assuming I live."

Strom had no reply for that.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Charlie pushed his mushy grayish brown food around in the bowl with his spoon, the chatter around him a calming white noise. He should not be here; he needed to be in the control interface room with Dr. Rush. But he had been kidnapped…again.

Brown eyes shifted sideways to Master Sergeant Ronald Greer who was sitting to his left. It was like the larger man made it his personal mission to…Charlie was not sure _what_ exactly, but it scared the hell out of him. The man would show up and roughly haul him around from one place or the next with a grip around his arm or the back of his neck. Usually it was to the mess hall or to Charlie's own quarters. Occasionally he was roughly pushed into Colonel Young's office, but that had only happened twice.

The young math professor wondered if he simply could just answer his radio more, maybe the irate soldier would leave him alone. But sometimes he could not pull away from the numbers, and if Charlie was being honest with himself, it had been happening more and more. Though this was supposed to be the 'adventure of a lifetime' Charlie just wanted to go home and he used the numbers to cope, willingly losing himself in them as often as he could. There was no harm in it…at first. Clearly now he was seeing the consequences.

A sharp elbow in his side quickly pulled him from his thoughts. Charlie glared at the man next to him. Greer returned his stare with one of his own and the mathematician was quickly cowed. The soldier's gaze held amusement and something predatory that honestly terrified him. Doe brown eyes darted to his right, but the Lieutenant had been turned against him. Scott just gave the younger man's meal a pointed look and Charlie obediently began to eat it.

Thankfully both Eli and Chloe were oblivious to the interaction, but Tamara looked on in fondness. Though it had been weeks since she wrote that memo to herself to give Eppes a checkup, she had not been able to get him to the lab. The kid was like a freaking ninja, she just could not find him and the few times that she did, TJ could have sworn she had looked away only for a second. Apparently a second was all it took, because when she glanced back he had been gone.

The only one with any luck finding the professor had been Greer. It was almost two weeks ago when she noticed the Sergeant's strange interest in the younger man and she had gone straight to Young about it. The Colonel had seemed curious, but unworried. He had still called the Sergeant to his office and questioned him with the medic present. Greer had just given them both this amused smirk of his before replying, "Have you watched him?" And then he left as if it had explained everything. Young had been amused at first and something akin to understanding flickered in his gaze, but TJ was just left confused. Seconds later he was ordering Johansen to watch the young Professor Eppes.

So that was what she had done, for three days. TJ shadowed Charlie as Greer was planet-side with Mathew, James, and Spencer. The mission had been a bust, the food inedible and the water source too far away to make use of. They had jumped back into FTL with nothing to show for their efforts but sunburns and blisters.

Tamara had been appalled at Charlie's lack of self-health. The kid hardly ate and slept even less. He would doze for an hour a two and then work for a shift and a half, and if he ate at least once a day it was a miracle. She had watched as the second Greer was back from the mission he went into the side room Charlie had sequestered away in, the walls filled with chalk numbers. The Sergeant had said something, but Charlie did not seem to hear.

Moments later Greer came out, hand wrapped around the nape of the younger man's neck as he bodily steered Charlie to the mess hall. He had forced the kid to sit, retrieved his rations, and vigilantly watched until it was all eaten. It was only then that TJ understood. Greer was not obsessed or fixated, he was protective. Sergeant Ronald Greer was taking care of the professor, because Eppes was simply unwilling or incapable of taking care of himself.

When she had approached the Colonel with her findings, he had seemed unsurprised and a little amused. She was less so, because TJ knew it wasn't just Charlie. While observing Eppes, she had been forced to observe those he interacted with most: Eli and Rush. Eli was pretty normal, if a little clingy, but the kid ate three meals a day and slept at least ten hours a night. Rush on the other hand was nearly as bad as Charlie when it came to taking care of himself. When she had told Young this, he had given her this peculiar look before mumbling something along the lines of, "I'll take care of it," and "A lot of work."

Eli's voice pulled her back to the conversation and she leaned slightly around Chloe to hear him better. "The ship doesn't have enough power to dial back to Earth and - as we've seen recently - when the ship runs out of juice, it finds a star and refills its tanks. Now, theoretically, at that time the full power of the star should be available to us."

"Star power," Greer did not smile, but he was clearly amused.

"Yeah. It's brilliant!" Eli agreed before he added as if in an afterthought, " _If_ we can somehow use the ship as a conduit and channel the star's energy into the Gate as we dial."

"That would do it," it was not quite a question, but Matt was able to get his point across.

Eli grimaced before he replied. "The problem is the whole 'ship as a conduit' part."

"Well, does anyone know when the ship will run out of power again?" TJ questioned, fingers sliding together as she resisted cracking her knuckles. It was a bad habit, but it was better than biting her nails.

"It's tough to tell," Eli admitted, face scrunching as he did a quick calculation in his head. "Based on current usage, probably gonna be several months."

"Three months, seventeen days, nine hours," Charlie supplied between mouthfuls of the tasteless gruel, distractedly staring at the condensation dripping from Greer's water bottle.

"Not if we can drain the power faster," Brody spoke from another table.

"Right!" Eli's hand flopped on the table as he gave a half shrug. "That's the part of the plan that sounded a little vague."

Riley frowned at him. "It's possible."

Matt cut in before a debate filled with nerd-lingo broke out. "So you guys are saying you're all for this?"

The other table was silent for several long seconds before Adam replied. "Let's see what Rush says."

"What about you, baby professor?" Greer questioned, nudging Charlie's side with his elbow. "What do you think?"

Eppes shifted away, scooting closer to Lieutenant Scott before he glanced up uncertainly. "What do I think about what?"

Eli gave him a strange look. "Seriously? Did you not hear a word I just said?" Charlie blinked owlishly at him. "About the plan…you know, _'the plan'_. The one everyone's been talking about?"

"Oh," he mumbled, setting his spoon down in the near empty bowl. "What about it?" TJ bit her lip to keep from laughing, Chloe wasn't so lucky. The younger girl snorted quietly in amusement and Matt chuckled softly at Charlie's cluelessness and Eli's dumbfounded expression.

Greer laughed loudly, hand clapping Charlie on the shoulder roughly. The professor was jolted into the table with the force of it, but he did not protest the harsh treatment, he had an older brother after all. He also did not move away from the hand that was left gripping his shoulder. Early results have shown a constant increase of strength of 5.6% per second when trying to pull away from the stronger man. Charlie soon learned to just give into it, he bruised easily after all. And even though he would never admit it out loud, the caustic rough handling was beginning to feel comforting.

"Do you think it's a good idea?" Eli questioned, voice catching strangely as he tried to get over his astonishment. How could his teacher do such complex math when he was not even paying attention…and who knew Greer could laugh?

Charlie raised his eyebrow slightly, staring at his younger student in seriousness before he replied. "No, it's a terrible idea."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"Given how little we know about this ship-"

"Can't we at least try it," Camile cut Rush off. "And abort if something goes wrong?"

Everett watched as Rush shook his head, hand hovering over the console and tired eyes flickering between the two in the control interface room. Arms crossed, the Colonel's gaze darted down to his wrist and he twisted it to note the time. His watch no longer kept time with Earth. After a week on the ship he had a scientist reprogram it to keep time with _Destiny's_ twenty-eight hour days. With the weird time schedule, 1400 hours became noon. It was currently 17:36, making it 3:36 pm _Destiny_ time.

Young had spent much of the night prowling around the _Destiny_ , familiarizing himself with the ship and the people. Rush had been working when Everett had turned in. Brow scrunched in concentration, Young tried to recall the last time he saw the man sleep; it bothered him that he could not.

Rush scoffed at the woman, hand rubbing the right side of his neck where it met his shoulder. He was looking away as he spoke, Highland accent thickening – whether it was in fatigue or annoyance, Young could not tell. "Well, unfortunately, the 'something goes wrong' part would most likely mean the ship exploding."

"Not according to the people who came up with the idea," Young argued back, but he did not sound convincing even to his own ears.

"Well, if only all science was that definitive, Colonel. You're just gonna have to choose who you wanna believe," Rush did not look away from the console until he was finished speaking. It was the sad but unfortunate truth, and no matter how much Rush pissed him off, Everett was inclined to believe the surly scientist over those white coated bureaucrats back on the Homeworld any day.

Camile shook her head in exasperation and annoyance; her high heels clicking loudly in the small room as she approached Rush. "Look Rush, we're just asking-"

"I know exactly what you're asking," he cut her off sharply. A shaking hand came up and rubbed at the base of his neck and Rush pinched his eyes closed as a headache pressed at the back of his skull.

Wray's lips pursed in a frown as pity shown in her eyes. They all knew how hard Rush had been working, and she felt guilt settle deep in her chest as she recalled Strom's words. She now understood that the reason Dr. Rush was not working on a way to get them home was not because he did not want too, he was just too busy trying to keep them all alive.

Everett watched intently as Camile raised a tentative hand, placing it on the scientist's forearm in comfort. But Rush did not take it that way. He flinched from the contact and jerked his arm away, a dark glare aimed at the small Asian woman. Camile stepped back from the harsh movement, hand falling limp to her side.

"If we are through here," Rush snapped at them, cheeks flushed in embarrassment at his reaction. "I have a lot of work to do." He turned from them, looking completely riveted at the console and ignoring them. His tense posture belayed his actions though, and Everett knew that Rush was completely aware of the others in the room.

Young sighed aloud as Camile scoffed, her face twisting in anger as she stomped out of the room. Everett was tempted to follow her, but he forced himself to stay as he recalled TJ's words in his office weeks ago. Something needed to be done about Rush and soon, before he crashed again. He scrubbed a hand down his face, palm catching on the several days' old stubble.

He saw Rush's eyes flick to him before returning to the screen. "Something I can help you with, Colonel?" The scientist asked nonchalantly, but his posture gave away his nervousness.

"Actually, there is," Young stepped closer to the man and he watched as brown eyes flickered back to him. Everett knew he had to approach this delicately, or it would turn into an all-out fight. A memory skimmed across the surface of his mind, one of Icarus Base.

It had been a few months after his posting, and he had taken an almost instantaneous dislike to the gruff doctor. A soldier under Telford's command had also taken a dislike to Rush, but unlike Young he made it known. They exchanged scathing words and not so subtle insults for weeks before the Colonel was forced to intervene.

Though willowy and of slight build, Rush was one hell of a scrapper. He gave as good as he got and fought dirty. To be honest, Young wasn't sure which one would have come out on top if the fight had continued. The display had not likened him to the man anymore, but it damn well sure made him respect the scientist.

Even now, Young could see that Rush was gearing himself up for a fight. His hands were clenched and his body was folded slightly, ready to spring from the stool to either run or tackle. The Colonel did not want to find out which. Settling on a plan quickly, he hoped to be spontaneous and confusing enough that Rush would not know how to react.

Everett placed a hand on the junction where Rush's shoulder met his neck, the same place Rush was constantly rubbing at when he was tired. He dug his thumb into the top of the spine when Rush tried to pull away, pulled him closer, forcing him to retake his seat or fall. Though wile, the Colonel was clearly the stronger of the two. Fingers digging into the console in a white knuckled grip, Rush retook his seat.

Rush's eyes darted to the gun holstered on the Colonel's hip and Young could feel the scientist's pulse jumping from where his fingers were pressed against the carotid artery. "Calm down, Rush. I'm not gonna hurt you."

He tried to sound reassuring, Rush did not find it so. His heart was pounding as the Colonel loomed over him and Everett could feel the slight trembling as Rush fought to remain still. The scientist opened his mouth to speak but swallowed thickly instead, tongue darting out to wet suddenly dry lips. Young would have found it amusing if he was not strategizing on the best way to get what he wanted. The only way for that to happen was to keep Rush off balance but not so much that he lashed out. It was a delicate process.

Young turned, pulling Rush along with him. Nicholas stumbled out of his chair, the Colonel's hand the only thing keeping him from becoming acquainted with the floor. He staggered after the taller man for several step before he was able to regain his balance. Rush gapped at him in shock, and Young fought to keep the smirk off his face. The scientist was almost complacent when he was so thoroughly confused.

"Colonel, wha-"

"Do you know what time it is, Rush?" Everett interjected lightly, voice taking on a playful tone.

Rush spluttered for several seconds, the hand tightening as he tried to jerk away. "What, no! Colonel! I demand-"

"It's lunch time, Rush," he continued jovially. Everett fought not to laugh at the incredulous look the angered scientist gave him. Thankfully the mess hall was not far from the Control Interface Room. Rush was just getting his bearings, body tensing as he prepared to fight when he was propelled into the cafeteria.

Young released him just before the doorway and Rush turned to him furious. The Colonel smiled at him, eyes sliding across the room and Nicholas' mouth snapped shut with an audible click as he took in the people. Cheeks flushed in anger, Rush turned to leave, but a heavy hand on his elbow halted him. He fought the automatic reaction to flinch away as Young smirked mischievously, pulling him further into the room.

"Thank you for joining me, Dr. Rush," Everett spoke loud enough to be heard by those near him, making it seem like Rush wanted to be there. Nicholas glared at the man and bit his tongue to keep the scathing reply behind his teeth. There was nothing he could say that would not cause a scene.

As Young pulled them into the food line - his restraining hand looking like a friendly touch to outsiders - Rush glowered and seethed in silence. As much as he hated to admit it, the situation had been well played. Minutes later, seated at the same table, they ate their lunch in silence. If anyone noticed the way Rush glared hatefully at the man across from him, or the smug grin of the Colonel, no one commented.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"Nothing to worry about," Chloe told Eli as they stood around the table. Sergeant Riley was jotting down notes as Eli fiddled with the Kino. "Doesn't hurt at all."

"Do I look worried?" Eli questioned, trying to sound nonchalant but failing. Chloe crossed her arms, shivering slightly from the cold as they waited for the Colonel and Professor Eppes.

Chloe smiled softly at him, giving Eli a half shrug. "A little."

Eli smiled ruefully back at her. "Just trying to figure out what I'm gonna say to my mom."

" _My_ family thinks I'm on sabbatical in Africa," Hunter commented, not looking up from his notepad.

"So, when it's time to come back, what do I do? Click my heels three times?" He changed the subject, laughing uncertainly.

Chloe snorted in amusement as Riley glanced up at them. "There's no way for you to disconnect the transmission yourself. The base needs to be manually shut down. There's a device on the other side as well, and turning either off will sever the connection."

"Pretty cool."

"Easiest way to swap consciousness with someone across the universe I've ever seen!"

Eli chuckled softly as Young strolled into the room. "What's with the Kino?"

"First time using the stones," Eli explained, bouncing in place. "Very exciting!" Young shared a glance with Chloe and she grinned at him. "Hey, where's Professor Eppes?"

Chloe looked down the hall as Eli questioned the Colonel, but she saw nothing. "He's not coming," Young replied. When he received confused glances from the two, he elaborated. "Said something about it being unnatural, didn't want his mind to be in somebody else's body, and then proceeded to give me statistics on what could go wrong. I didn't stick around."

Eli smiled sheepishly at the two. "Yeah, sounds like the Professor."

Young turned to Riley, giving him a slight nod before they all picked up the stones and placed them on the platform. Seconds later, Hunter watched as they shifted around, getting used to the new bodies. Telford rotated his neck and Doctor Williams grabbed Eli's shirt, tugging at it in distaste. "Any chance I could get something _else_ to wear?"

Telford glanced around for Doctor Bailey, but didn't see a fourth person. "Sergeant," he snapped, turning to Riley, "Where's Professor Eppes?"

"Oh," Hunter replied, not intimidated but Telford's aggressiveness. "He decided to stay."

"What do you mean he decided to stay?!"

Dr. McCormack, in Chloe's body, scoffed at them. "He can't just decide to stay, this isn't a democracy."

Riley stared up at her with a blank look. "Professor Eppes is a civilian, who is currently neither working for -nor contracted with - the military or the government. Colonel Young has no authority over him. Professor Eppes declined to use the communication stones, which is in his rights as a _civilian_."

Telford clenched his jaw, annoyed. "Get me Doctor Rush, the First Lieutenant, and Professor Eppes, now!"

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Young watched as Chloe and Eli looked over their temporary bodies in fascination. Eli especially as he shifted around, turning to the camera footage of the room. Already used to the sensation and Telford's taller but thinner body, Everett waited patiently as the two civilians got familiar with the process. Eli smiled brightly, waving at the camera as he pointed to the screen.

"Wow!" He laughed, voice taking on an unfamiliar pitch. "Check me out!" Chloe smiled endearingly at him as he turned his attention back to the hands that were not his. "Okay, this is weird. The people we're in can't hear us, can they?" He asked Chloe uncertainly.

She smiled, red lipstick dark against tanned skin. It was not her face, but Eli could see his friend beneath the body. "No."

Doctor Bailey stood from the chair, face pinched in consternation. "Colonel Young!" The older man snapped, jowls shaking as he heaved his overweight frame closer to Telford's body. "What is the meaning of this?" Young's only response was to raise an eyebrow. He found it more difficult to do in David's body, his muscles not used to it. "Where is Professor Eppes, I was supposed to switch with him."

"Professor Eppes has abstained from using the stones at this time," Young replied condescendingly.

The man spluttered but could not get a word in as Eli cut in, oblivious to the tension in the room. "I wonder what they're doing with _our_ bodies?" He chuckled. Young's eyes darted to him at the comment, concern pulling his lips down into an unnatural frown in Telford's body. The realization of the fact that Telford and two 'scientists' were now aboard _Destiny_ just hit him. A feeling of trepidation ran down his spine.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Telford gazed at the strange piece of wall art as he waited in the side room far away from the Stone Room that was safe. The door hissed opened behind him and he turned as three people entered dutifully. Lieutenant Scott looked uncertain and Professor Eppes appeared confused, but Rush was full of suspicion.

"Colonel Telford," Rush began, brown eyes taking in Young's body, but the slight off centering and antagonistic posturing. Nicholas would know Telford anywhere in anyone.

"I'll just get right to it," he began, voice cutting as if talking to disobedient children. Charlie shifted uncomfortably from behind Doctor Rush. "I've been ordered to enact the rescue plan put forward by the IOA."

"Rescue plan?" Rush's voice filled with disbelief, but his body was tight with tension.

Matt shook his head, hands gripped tightly in front of him as if to restrain himself from doing something stupid. "I don't understand."

Telford approached them slowly, getting used to Young's slightly off gait as his knee throbbed. Charlie resisted the urge to back away and Matt's gaze kept shifting between the Colonel and the Scientist. "I brought Doctors McCormack and Williams with me. I believe you know them," he commented to Rush.

"Yes," Nicholas replied slowly in confusion.

"I've already set them to work. Doctor Bailey was supposed to come as well but since Professor Eppes has refused to use the stones, he was left behind." His dark gaze turned to the smaller man and Scott shifted slightly in front of Charlie to pull the man's gaze away from him.

"What about Colonel Young?" Matt questioned, a feeling of unease settling in the pit of his stomach.

Telford turned his piercing gaze to the Lieutenant slowly, eyes fixing on all of them as he spoke with dark conviction. "Effective immediately, _I'm_ assuming command of the _Destiny_."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"You replaced me?" Young fought to keep the anger out of his voice as he stood before the General's desk. He was already in deep water; Everett didn't need to dive any deeper.

"For now," O'Neill commented nonchalantly.

"Without waiting to hear my answer?" He could not keep the incredulousness at bay if he had tried.

Jack leaned forward, elbows on his desk as he folded his hands before his face. "You were going to say...?"

"Give us more time."

O'Neill did not look surprised. "Then you were going to be disobeying a direct order."

"Sir-"

"Look," Jack cut in and Young sighed heavily as he turned his gaze to the ceiling, knowing what was about to come. "I offered you command of the expedition. You were my first choice. But you turned it down. Your exact words, as I recall, were, 'I don't think it's still in me, sir.'" O'Neill gesticulated as he tried to drive his point home.

"Well, I'm there now, sir," Young replied arms uncrossing as he pulled them behind his back, leaning forward as he fought to control his rage. "Whether I like it or not…whether _anyone_ likes it. This is wrong and you know it. I spent most of my career looking up to you because you always did the right thing even if it meant disregarding the chain of command."

"Colonel," O'Neill interjected, leaning back in his chair as he observed the angered man. "Don't think _I_ like this."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"They can't do this to us, can they?" Eli did not quite shout in disbelief. They were all sitting in a small coffee room around a low table. Chloe was seated on the only couch, leaning forward slightly as her blue eyes darted between the two men. Young shifted his eyes away as the low cut shirt was pulled down further, revealing more cleavage of a body that was not hers. Chloe did not seem to notice which led Young to believe that she did not normally wear such shirts.

"Well, for now, they have. Look, I think it comes down to the fact that they don't trust Rush - and the truth is, I can't blame them. They don't understand the full situation and they wouldn't listen to me even if I felt inclined to explain it."

"What are we supposed to do?" Chloe questioned, eyes telling him that she would follow whatever order he gave.

Young acknowledged her silent commitment as his gaze darted to Eli's determined expression. "They've given you permission to see your families as long as you guys follow the rules." It was a silent command to keep their heads low and stay out of trouble.

"Look," Eli cut in, face twisting in anxiety. "I hate to go there, but what happens if they screw up and the ship explodes?"

The Colonel's face turned stern and voice grave, but he could not bring himself to lie. "Most likely we will die here, too." He paused as Eli and Chloe traded concerned looks of fear. "Look, apparently they're just doing some preliminary testing, information gathering, nothing too crazy. Right now we have the favor, both Rush and Eppes are still on the _Destiny_. They weren't planning for that. Between the two of them and the support of Lieutenant Scott and Sergeant Greer, the crew should be safe." He would not say more, not while they were being monitored.

"So what you're saying is: live it up while we can," Eli smiled nervously, but there was no real effort put into it.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Greer shoveled the tasteless gruel masquerading as dinner into his mouth, eyes riveted on the table. Matt sat across from him, the other tables full except for theirs. Charlie was absent from this meal, hiding in the Control Interface Room with Doctor Rush. Greer had felt inclined to leave him there, he was safer with the surly Scotsman as a buffer than anywhere else at the moment with the power trip Telford was having. The Colonel still needed Doctor Rush and he would not do anything to piss him off as of yet.

Scott glanced up as the sound of footsteps echoed from the hall. He raised his eyebrows in warning at the Sergeant as Telford and two marines marched into the mess hall. Greer continued to eat, appearing nonchalant as his back remained to the door and thus the visitors, but Matt could see the tension lining his shoulders. "Colonel Telford, I presume," his southern accent became thick as he mocked the man without turning around.

"Sergeant," Telford replied. It was not a greeting, but a silent command. Greer sat for a few more seconds in defiance before he stood and turned to face him, tilting his head back to gaze down his nose at the man. Telford clenched his teeth at the silent insubordination, but he only turned and walked out. Greer followed after as the two marines, men he had trained, reluctantly led him out into the hall.

Telford marched quickly down the corridor, stopping when he finally found an unused living quarter. The hissed as he activated the wall panel, sliding open to reveal the empty room. Greer strolled into the small room without prompt, turning to give the Colonel a scathing glare. "He can use the facilities," Telford told the escort, smirk barely suppressed. "That's it."

The doors hissed as they locked and Greer seethed from behind them.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Williams stood on the bench in the mess hall as the scientists and those that were needed gathered around. Charlie stood next to Brody, shifting uncomfortably in the packed room. Doctor Williams was in Eli's body, and Charlie could not bring himself to look at the man who was masquerading as his student. He had even changed out of Eli's clothes.

"And what if the power flow can't be controlled?" Riley Hunter questioned, causing a stir in the crowd as the implications of danger was brought to attention.

"Well, if there are any dangerous fluctuations, we just shut it down and allow the ship to continue powering up." The _if_ it could be shut down was left unsaid.

"Early tests show it _should_ work," Brody commented, sounding uncertain and dubious. The whole situation had left him and many others feeling uncomfortable and out of sorts at the impromptu take over from Homeworld.

Telford cut in before the uncertainty could get out of control. "We're not going to be putting you in any more danger than you're already in just being here."

Doctor McCormack, the young lady in Chloe's body interjected with another argument for the plan. "From what I gather, supplies are desperately short."

"And, given the condition of the ship, it could experience a fatal breakdown at any time," Williams added. Charlie felt like they were pushing the plan too fast, too hard. There was another agenda, but whatever it was Charlie could not see it.

Telford turned to Camile as if he expected her to contribute, but Wray kept her gaze planted on the floor and refused to comment. He narrowed his eyes at her, the Colonel had been told by Strom to expect her support. But he could not know how guilt ate at her and all Camile could see was Rush's tired and exhausted gaze as he fought to understand the ship, Charlie's rapidly thinning frame and the bruises under his eyes as he worked day in and out to keep them alive. And all she could recall was the Rush's voice and how it had wavered in fear as he fought against the plan.

Telford glared briefly at the small woman but continued on without her support. "Obviously we can't say for sure that this is going to get you home, but the best minds that we have are working on this and I'm sure you'll agree…" he paced the room, gazing around at the assembled crowd before he spotted the one he was looking for. Rush stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed. They made eye contact, and though he was addressing the entirety of the room, his words were meant for Rush alone. "…It's well worth pursuing."

Rush stared at him a moment longer, face expressionless as he turned and quietly left the room.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Telford walked into the Observation Deck, sighing in relief as his gaze settled on Rush. It had taken nearly two hours to track the man down, the crew of the _Destiny_ surprisingly helpful in leading him in the wrong direction. Telford still was not certain if that was intentional, or if Rush's movements were so erratic that nobody really knew where he was. If the damned man had just answered his radio – his gaze fell on the table, the radio was off. Telford scoffed, of course it was.

Rush was sitting at one of the metal tables, laptop in front of him and hunched over the screen with abhorred posture. "Doctor Rush," he acknowledged as he walked further in the room, halting just before the bench as he gazed out of the floor to ceiling windows.

"Colonel," Rush replied caustically, gaze fixed on the screen.

Telford ignored his tone, eyes fixed on the flowing colors of the FTL vortex. "It is spectacular, isn't it?"

Rush glanced up at the man before he too took in the scene. "Yes," he agreed quietly, nearly reluctant. He had to proceed cautiously; Colonel Telford was not like Colonel Young. The man was unpredictable, known for quick violent outbursts that never got reported. Rush never did like him.

Telford waited for a heartbeat, turning away from the beautiful view and walking over to the seated man. "If this plan has any chance of succeeding-"

"Which it doesn't," Rush snapped at him. Telford halted a half a pace away, not quite hovering but nearly. Nicholas turned to him, keeping both eyes on him as a tight feeling of foreboding settled in his stomach. He never thought he would admit it, but Rush wished for Young just then. "Control over most of the ship's operational systems is limited at best. Navigation, propulsion and many others have been locked out entirely by a master code which we have had no luck in breaking." When he turned back to his laptop, Rush made sure to turn his head so Telford remained in his peripheral at all times.

"Thought you might wanna know we've come up with a way of draining the power," the Colonel did not quite sigh in frustration.

"Yes, so I heard. Many of the power conduits have been badly damaged, and firing the ship's weapons system - without either repairing them or isolating the damaged areas - would be prohibitively _dangerous_."

"Yeah, that's what we're working on right now. Just wanted to keep you informed," Rush watched him leave until he turned and disappeared around the corner.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"She's not gonna understand," Eli told Major Green, the air condition on high as the math student talked around in circles through his slight nervous breakdown. "She can barely follow an episode of 'Star Trek'!"

Green turned to the younger man. "You don't _have_ to tell her," he reminded him for the fourth time; hopefully Wallace would hear him this time.

Eli opened the car door slowly, walking up the steps to the front porch. Each step felt harder and harder, as if his feet were waited down in cement. Too soon, he was on the porch, knocking on the front door that he had insisted be painting Tardis blue when he had gone through a 'Doctor Who' phase.

The door opened before he could lose his courage and run back to the car. Before him stood his mother wearing a bright red shirt under a burgundy sweater. Her eyes looked tired, more wrinkles lining them then he remembered. A feeling of guilt clenched around his heart as he took in her frazzled appearance and exhausted demeanor. Had he done this to her?

"Yes?" She asked tersely and Eli was shaken out of his observation.

He smiled at her nervously. "Hi. Uh-"

"Can I help you?" She cut in, annoyance coloring his tone.

"My name is…" he started hesitantly, debating silently with himself before he sighed in defeat and cowardice. "...Philip. Philip Fry. I work with your son."

Her demeanor changed instantly, shifting forward as hope and desperation warred across her face. "You know Eli?"

"We've recently become very close…" his eyes darted around as if unsure if it was a statement or a question.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Chloe could not tear her gaze away from the mirror, the reflection of a woman she did not know staring back at her. Her mother gazed at her sadly from the doorway, knocking softly before she entered. Chloe turned to her, smiling with lips that were not hers. Her mom smiled back, coming to sit next to her on the bed.

"It doesn't feel real," her daughter said sadly, shaking her head as her eyes took in her bedroom. "It's like a bad dream."

"You're here," she told her, gazing at the strange face. "If this is the only way, I can live with that."

"I can't stay this way forever, Mom."

"I know," she replied, fighting to make eye contact, afraid that she would not see her daughter in the gaze. "Everyone's working very hard to get you home."

"I'm _trying_ to get through this, I _am_ ," Chloe choked on the words.

Mrs. Armstrong reached over, taking her daughter's hand, because no matter what body she was in, this was her little girl. "Your father always used to say-"

"'One step at a time.'" There was a silence that seemed to stretch forever. "I miss him so much."

"Me too," she replied, wrapping her daughter up in her arms, Monique hugged her tightly. "Me too."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Sparks flew from the torch as Riley welded the pipe together, the spacesuit making it hard to see. Brody stood a little further off, checking the integrity of the wall he had just patched. He stood, stepping away from the wall as he turned to Riley.

"That's it for me."

"I'm almost done over here," Riley replied.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Rush looked up from the console where he had been monitoring the two fixing the corridor. Telford, Williams, and McCormack walked in, the Colonel exuding anger while the scientists had a permanent twist of annoyance across their faces.

"You're stalling," Telford snapped at him and Rush resisted the urge to sigh.

"I'm doing things the way they need to be done," Rush replied with no emotion, fingers darting around the screen.

Williams stepped up next to Telford, gesturing angrily with his hand, imploring Rush to listen to his reason. "Now, we've isolated power to forty percent of the operational weapons system and it should be good enough to get us a read on our power reduction capability."

Rush shook his head through the entire spiel, pursing his lips to keep the scathing words at bay. Telford leaned closer, trying to intimidate the Scotsman. "The next time we drop out of FTL-"

"No, look, look," Rush argued back, anger seeping into his tone. "This ship is old and damaged. The computers aren't registering half the things they're supposed to," he gestured to the console in exasperation. "I want manual confirmation before activating _any_ system that comprehensive."

"Over eighty percent of this ship is inaccessible without spacesuits right now," Telford snapped back, tone taking on an authoritive bite to it as he tried to stare the doctor down. "With only two suits, doing it your way could take months."

Rush turned back to the console, voice calm and firm. "If that's what it takes."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Brody sealed the door as Riley activated the ship's communications through the suit. He was breathing hard, visor collecting his breath and condensing into fog leaving behind droplets. "Doctor Rush, we're ready here."

"Okay," he replied through the radio, voice cracking over the system. "Sending power through." Riley moved back towards Brody, peering through the small port window in the bulkhead. They held their breaths and crossed their fingers, but seconds later steam erupted from the pipe that Riley had been welding. An alarm began to sound and Rush's voice came crackling through the communications. "Riley!?"

"Looks like a coolant leak," Riley replied.

Brody turned to him, communications with the ship still open. "I thought you got it."

"Yeah, so did I."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

The alarm continued to ping around the room, quiet enough to not be distracting, but annoying enough to get someone's attention. Rush's fingers darted around the console, typing in commands as Telford and the two scientists peered over his shoulder.

"There's a problem. Power's backing up in the relay," Rush told them, whether he was talking to the two in the suits or those in the room was anyone's guess.

"Shut it down!" Telford snapped at him.

"I'm trying. It's not working."

"The problem is contained," Williams stepped in, reaching over and pointing to something on the screen. "It's restricted to that corridor."

"That's not the point!" Rush barked at the younger man in annoyance.

Telford scrubbed a hand down his face. "How big an explosion are we talking about?"

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"I'm going in," Riley did not quite shout as he hit the panel to unseal the bulkhead. "I can seal it."

Brody turned, grabbing him as he tried to pull him away from the door. "Are you crazy? You can't go in there!"

"We're on the hull!" Riley yelled at him, shoving the smaller man aside and stepping over the threshold. He stopped long enough to seal the door as Brody pulled himself off the floor and ran for the bulkhead. He was too late, the door was sealed.

Riley moved over to the venting steam, crouching on the ground to grab the torch.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"Rush!" Telford shouted angrily as he demanded information, distracting the doctor as he tried to divert the energy.

"We're in FTL!" Rush bellowed at them, gesturing widely as he tried to explain it as quickly as possible and come up with a solution. "If it punctures the hull, disrupts the shield at all even for a microsecond, then the entire ship could be in jeopardy."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Brody gazed through the window in trepidation, bouncing slightly as he cursed softly. Riley desperately tried to weld the break, but a spark hit the coolant and the gas ignited. There was a moment, half a heartbeat when the spark lit and the flames erupted into an inferno of heat and fire. Riley was thrown across the corridor, low gravity doing nothing to ease the blow as he crashed into the wall with a crunch and crumpled onto the ground like a marionette with its strings cut.

"RILEY!" Brody cried in anguish, but there was no reply.

The fire extinguished quickly with no air to feed it. Riley lay unmoving on the floor, blood decorating his visor like the water droplets from his breath. Brody screamed.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Brody trembled slightly from his position sitting on the floor. He had been sitting outside the Infirmary for nearly three hours, covered in sweat that quickly cooled in the too cold ship, leaving him shivering. But he refused to leave and change, not while Riley was still being treated. Rush stood not far off, leaning against the wall. Brody had honestly been surprised that the man had not wondered off yet to start working on a new problem.

The sound of footsteps drew their attention, and Adam scrambled to stand quickly as TJ approached them. He looked at her anxiously as Rush came to stand beside him. "It's, um," she started, voice cracking as she turned her gaze to the floor. "It's gonna be touch and go."

Adam swallowed around the lump in his throat as his gaze was riveted on his friend…his best friend. Riley looked so fragile, laying on the steel table, white blanket covering him and bandages wrapped around his head. Rush passed him, pausing to lay a hand on his shoulder. Brody did not turn to him; he did not even seem to notice. Rush sighed and left for the Mess Hall.

The walk was longer then he remembered, but that may have been because he was moving slower than usual. Rush berated himself silently for getting attached to these people, their chances of survival dwindling every day. Getting attached would only lead to heartache, but it was too late for that. How could he not get attached, already he found himself seeking out the company of certain people, Eli for one, Eppes was another.

He would not admit it out loud but every now and then he even sought out the Colonel. Not for conversation, most definitely not, but sometimes he had this need, this urge to just see the man. Most of the times the interactions he had had with Young had ended in arguments and scathing remarks, but somehow he was beginning to enjoy their exchange of sarcastic quips and badly veiled threats. It made him uncomfortable for Telford to be walking around in Young's body.

It had only been a few seconds from when he had gotten his food and sat down to eat it before said man walked up and sat across from him. Rush paused in eating his breakfast, gazing up at the man with exhausted eyes. Nicholas could not remember the last time he had slept, certainly not with Telford onboard. He did not trust the man.

"We're proceeding with the test next time we drop out of FTL," the Colonel told him, voice cold and demanding.

"Colonel," Rush sighed as he set his spoon down. He always hated being the voice of reason. Usually he was on the other side of the argument, and somebody else was telling him to shove his idea where the sun does not shine. "The man nearly died."

Telford's lip curled in a snarl, hand coming up to point accusingly at Rush. " _You're_ the one who put him in jeopardy."

"I was trying to make sure you didn't kill us all," Rush made the statement seem almost casually amused.

"I'm not going to," Telford bit out caustically.

"Okay," Nicholas began, word escaping like a sight. "I accept responsibility for what happened, but _you_ forced the situation, and activating the weapons system the way you're proposing…is completely reckless," his lips twisted in a snarl at the last few words, brown eyes heated in a glare filled with anger and hate.

Telford rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Come on, Rush. These people are in danger just being here, evidenced by what just happened. The ship is falling apart. They're the wrong people for this. We need to get them home."

"Yeah, well, there's a right way of doing that."

"We _are_ doing it the right way."

There was a pause, the silence lasting only a few seconds before Rush brought his gaze back up to the Colonel. "That's a matter of opinion."

Telford folded his hands on the table, thumbs tapping together as he brought his temper down to a manageable level. Rush was more stubborn then a mule and David likened him to steel. He would break before he would bend. "Look," he began, mind in furious action as he tried to think of the best way to get the scientist's cooperation. "I know that we've had our differences in the past-"

"Yeah," Rush butted in, chin tilting up in a defensive reaction. His accent thickened slightly as he griped at the man. "You wanted me off the expedition team. I remember."

"It was my duty to express concern for how everyone else felt about you," Telford replied calmly, hand waving around as if to gesture to the 'everyone else'.

"So are you suggesting that my judgment is now somehow clouded? Or is it that I'm just plain lying?" Rush questioned, voice dripping with darkness. His head tilted like a bird as he scrutinized the Colonel.

Telford smirked deviously, leaning forward on bent arms to sneer at the other man. "Admit it, Rush. After everything that's happened, you're afraid they're not going to let you come back," his voice was taunting and Rush held his gaze for a moment before he stood fluidly and left the Mess Hall, leaving behind his barely eaten dinner.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

The phone rang as Eli stood before the mirror, hands going up and down his stomach. It was weird to be suddenly so thin, but Eli hoped that one day he could look like that in his own body. With the way food was rationed, it should not have been long now.

"Hello?" Eli answered the phone as he flopped himself down on the hotel couch.

"Hey, it's me," a voice that was not Chloe's came through the phone, but Eli could recognize her particular cadence and pronunciations in anyone.

"How's it going?" Eli grinned enthusiastically as he made himself comfortable.

"Uh, OK. How'd your mom take it?"

Eli grimaced before answering. "Couldn't do it. I told her I was a co-worker."

"I told my friends I'm Cousin Liz from out west."

He laughed for a few seconds, amusement clear in his tone. "I may have over-sold the job. I said I was gonna change everything for mankind as we know it!" His face twisted into something a little more self-deprecating. "What the hell, right? Might as well make her feel like I left for a good reason."

"You _did_ ," Chloe argued.

"Right. I guess so," but he did not sound convinced.

There was a moment of silence before Chloe decided to change topics to keep the mood light. "So, uh, some of my old friends are taking 'Cousin Liz' out on the town to see Janelle Monae. You wanna come hang out with us?"

"Hell, _yes_!"

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Colonel Young sat in the car outside of a quant two story house on the outskirts of Los Angeles. The house was old and had the appeal of a home well loved. Two vehicles were parked in the driveway, a black government issued SUV and an old station wagon. The lawn was well maintained; trim short but still bright green despite the cold. The garden was bare of flowers but the ground was freshly turned. It took nearly too much effort to pull himself from the vehicle that Homeworld Command had lent him.

The walk up to the front porch seemed to take forever. Dead leaves crunching under his booted feet as he walked up to the door. Everett paused there, hand raised to knock before he steeled himself. The door was answered promptly by a young man of roughly the same height and build as he…well, when he was in his own body that was.

"Can I help you?"

"Agent Eppes?" Young questioned unnecessarily, he had gone over the dossiers of every one of Professor Eppes' family and friends in the car. When the man nodded in confirmation Young relaxed into a parade rest. It was obvious he was military, even without the uniform. "My name is Colonel Telford, may I come in?"

Agent Eppes' eyes narrowed in suspicion, but he moved aside none the less. Young inclined his head in gratitude before entering. Though he hated masquerading as somebody he was not, the family he was visiting was not cleared to know about the Stargate or anything pertaining to it. The Eppes brother led him into the kitchen where two older men were sitting. A young woman of Middle Eastern decent was at the counter preparing some sort of salad. It took only a moment to put the faces to the names of the dossiers he had read.

Amita Ramanujan moved away from the counter and joined Alan Eppes, Charlie's father, and Doctor Larry Fleinhardt, Charlie's professor, at the table. "Donnie?" Alan questioned, standing slowly as a warm smile settled naturally upon his face. "Who's your friend?"

"Colonel Telford, sir," Young answered before 'Donnie' could. "I'm here about your son."

Alan raised an inquiring eyebrow, smile sliding from his face as the corners of his mouth turned down. "Don?"

Donald Eppes' gaze flitted between his father and the Colonel, confusion prominent in his expression. Young found himself smiling despite himself. "No sir, your other son."

Everything seemed to freeze at the words. The silence that followed was palpable and Young shifted in uncertainty. "Charlie?" Alan whispered, face twisting in grief. The older son looked like he had been punched in the gut while Amita and Doctor Fleinhardt turned their gaze upon the Colonel. "What happened? Where is he? Is he okay? He said he would write but that was over a month ago. We haven't heard anything and nobody will tell us-"

Colonel Young lifted his hand to halt the desperate words. "Mr. Eppes, your son is fine."

Alan seemed to crumple into his chair in relief and Don hurried over to him in worry. Amita rose quickly, gesturing to an empty chair. "Please," she implored him to sit as she rushed to the cabinet and started to get water for everyone. Everett waited patiently as she gathered beverages, letting the family settle with good news before he presented the bad. Doctor Fleinhardt gave him a queer look as he took the proffered glass and took a sip.

"Colonel Telford, was it?" Larry questioned as all attention turned to them. Everett nodded his head as he took another sip. "Charlie's okay? Truly?"

"Yes," he replied honestly, hands folded on the table as he set the glass down. "Look, there is a lot I can't tell you," the 'it's classified' went unsaid but clearly understood.

"What can you tell us?" Don did not quite snap as he took his own seat next to his father. Amita and Doctor Fleinhardt were crowded by the end of the table; Everett sat alone on the other side.

Young sighed, running a hand through hair that was not his. That was a very good question, and Everett found that he had to pick his words very carefully. "Professor Eppes and his student, Eli Wallace, were transported on site at the scheduled time," he began hesitantly, shifting uncomfortably as four sets of eyes fixed on him. "Shortly after arrival a…situation unfolded."

Larry blinked at him oddly, hands folded before him. "What kind of situation?"

Everett paused, words running through his head before settling on a half-truth. "The base was attacked." The collective gasp of surprise and disbelief was expected, Amita bursting into tears was not. "Professor Eppes," it was weird calling him that after calling him Charlie for so long, "and his student, along with eighty-six others were able to escape."

"How bad was it?" Don questioned as his father began to look queasy.

Young sighed scrubbing at his face as he remembered counting survivors and ticking off names from the roster of those unaccounted for. It was not until five days later that he learned nobody else made it out but those who escaped through the gate. "The base was destroyed, no other survivors." There was a moment of silence as the implications passed through them.

"When, uh," Alan began, clearing his throat. "When are you bringing my son home?"

And that was the crux of the situation, when were any of them coming home. "We are working on it…"

"But…" Larry prompted.

"It isn't that easy."

"What the fuck do you mean it isn't that easy?" Don shouted, hand slamming on the table. "Of course it's that easy, go and fucking _get_ them!"

"Don-"

Alan tried to interject but the FBI Agent did not give him the chance. "No dad. You look here, Colonel whatever your name was. That's my baby brother out there, you go and get him!"

The quiet that followed his outburst was tangible. Several seconds seemed to pass before the Agent deflated back into his chair. Young's gaze turned compassionate as he looked at him. Don only wanted to protect his little brother, but he could not, not here on Earth billions of light years from the _Destiny_.

"We have no way of reaching them," he began quietly, words nearly whispered. "And they have no way of getting to us. They are so far behind enemy lines you couldn't even imagine," it was not quite the truth, but Young thought that the situation fit close enough. "Right now your brother is alive, a few stones lighter then you last saw him but that is his own damn fault," a few chuckles went up around the table. Clearly Charlie's forgetfulness was not a new development.

"Please," Alan began, brown eyes imploringly turned to him. "Be honest, how bad is it?"

"Honestly?" Everett asked, waiting for confirmation to be certain. He continued once he received it. "Not good. They have limited supplies, food is being rationed, but they don't have enough to last another month. Water is a fluctuating priority, they did find a water source several weeks back, but they had to leave it behind. Luckily they were able to collect enough to last to the end of the month. Power is an ongoing issue, but they have shelter so that counts for something."

He gave them a few moments to let the information sink in before he continued. "Right now Command is working on a way of getting them home, but if you want my personal opinion…I don't think it will work," Everett held up a hand to stall the questions. "I can't go into details, but the plan is dangerous, maybe even fatally. If we knew the exact location we could work off of that but-"

"Couldn't you use a satellite to locate their position?" Amita asked, dabbing at her eyes with a napkin.

"No," he answered, but he refused to explain any further stating it was another one of those 'classified' situations. "Look," he continued after a few moments, guilt eating at him as he took in their desperate expressions. "Charlie is doing okay, he's not great…nobody is, but he is _okay_."

"Is he, uh…" Alan started, his eyes red but dry. "Is he eating, you know sometimes, he uh-"

Don cut in as his father was loss for words. "Sometimes he gets lost in his head and forgets the important things."

Everett snorted in amusement. "I know exactly what you mean, trust me. He isn't the only one onb-" he stopped himself mid word, having almost said 'onboard the _Destiny_ '. Clearing his throat awkwardly he continued after a few seconds. "Well, he isn't the only one. Colonel Young, he's the uh…the one in charge of the survivors, well anyway, he's making sure everyone is taken care of. Sergeant Greer has taken it upon himself to make sure your son eats and sleeps at least the bare minimum."

A moment of stunned silence before Alan's eyes started to crinkle in amusement. "Really? I could never pull Charlie away from those blackboards with a crowbar if I had tried."

Everett laughed with the group, the conversation taking on a little lighter tone. "Well, Greer is twice Charlie's size and doesn't really give the professor a choice." When Don's eyes snapped to him in suspicion, Young found himself clarifying. "It's not what you think, Greer would never harm you son," he told Mr. Eppes. "You see the…third?...day there Charlie saved the Sergeant's life along with Lieutenant Scott's and inadvertently the entire crew," at their confused looks he clarified. "A situation came up and Sergeant Greer and Lieutenant Scott were carrying precious cargo that the others needed in order to survive…without it they would have died in less than a day. Charlie…uh," he paused unsure how to phrase it without revealing too much. "Well, Charlie 'kept the way clear' with the possibility of losing life and limb…anyway, Greer feels like he owes him so he's been watching out for the professor."

"Really…my Charlie did that?" Alan asked both stunned and proud. Everett nodded to him slowly in confirmation. "When do you think he'll be home?" He asked quietly, voice breaking uncomfortably over the words.

Everett gazed at their hopeful faces and felt pity twist in his gut. He did not have anything waiting for him if – no, _when_ he got home, but Charlie did. His family cared deeply about the professor and the Colonel felt envious for a moment. "Hopefully within the next few months, but…" he reached across the table, hand settling on the father's wrist in comfort. "It could be _a lot_ longer than that."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Young was sitting on the back steps of Charlie's house, beer in hand and gazing at the happy friends and family. Though the news that Charlie wouldn't be home for a while, the fact that he was alive and okay seemed to lighten everyone's spirits. Alan was barbequing stake and ribs on the grill, his son talking sports next to him while draining another beer. Amita sat at the picnic table laughing at them.

A contented smile spread across his face as a chill wind blew past, ruffling his hair and bringing the scent of winter with it. The sound of footsteps had him turning, Doctor Larry Fleinhardt coming out from the kitchen. The older man settled on the step next to him, a cup of hot tea cradled in his pale hands. A comfortable silence settled over them for a few minutes before a feeling of vertigo overtook the Colonel.

He reached to grab the banister, except his hand hit metal. When he opened his eyes, he was back on the _Destiny_

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Scott walked into the Control Interface Room, body tight with anger as he tried to make himself relax. Chloe and Eli were working on the consoles near the Colonel and it took Matt a few seconds to remember that the people walking around were not who he thought they were. McCormack in Chloe's body turned to him as he marched into the room, but she didn't look at him like Chloe did, and soon dismissed him and returned her attention to the screen.

He glanced around for Rush or Eppes, but they both were conspicuously absent. Not that he blamed them. From what he had gathered, Rush and Telford did not have the best of relationships, even worse than Rush and Young. And Charlie, well, he was so wound with tension that Matt would not have been surprised if he had snapped.

Several hours ago Scott had tracked him down into the coolant systems where he had sequestered himself away in. With Greer in lockup, Matt had taken it upon himself to make sure that the 'baby genius', as Greer put it, got something to eat. Despite the fact that Greer seemed to make Charlie uncomfortable at the best of times, the professor had been surprised and a little sullen when he heard the news that the Sergeant had been detained.

As soon as he had eaten his rations, Charlie had disappeared down the hall and by the time Matt reached the junction, the mathematician was nowhere in sight. He had heard from Volker that the two new scientists Williams and McCormack had been hassling him for help so he was not surprised at all that the little professor had found himself a hidey-hole.

"Excuse me. Colonel? Can I have a word?" He asked, hoping his tone did not sound as frustrated to them as it did him.

"One moment," Telford said to the scientists, holding up a single finger and walking over to Scott.

"It's about Sergeant Greer-" Scott paused as _Destiny_ dropped out of FTL and Telford stumbled forward and caught himself on console. He stared around the room in confusion and Scott gave him a concerned look. "Colonel Telford?"

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Telford's hand hit wood as he leaned against the porch railing, staring around the yard in confusion. Larry moved closer, setting a hand on his shoulder. "Colonel, are you okay?"

David turned to him slowly, but his eyes showed no recognition, seconds later it was gone and Larry questioned if he had seen it at all. "I'm fine, just a little jet lagged," Telford replied, but he sounded unsure.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Young's gaze turned around the whole room, taking in Chloe and Eli as they too shared in his confusion. "It's not," he told Scott as the Lieutenant flustered around him like a concerned mother hen. "It's Young. What just happened?"

"We just dropped out of FTL, sir."

"Uh, what's going on?" Chloe asked as she leaned forward on the console, hand raised above a bunch of buttons as if she had been about to input something.

"It must have disrupted communication between the stones," Eli supplied as he took in his new uniform.

"Scott, listen to me," Everett interrupted. "We don't have a lot of time. You've gotta-"

"Colonel Young?" Scott asked hesitantly as Young stopped speaking mid-sentence. "Colonel Young!" He tried again when he got no reply.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"That's some form of jet lag you've got there," Larry told him as Young stumbled against the counter. The others were still outside, but the doctor and he had relocated into the kitchen.

"Yeah," Everett began, clearing his throat. "It was a really long flight." _Several billion light years' worth._

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"What just happened?" Telford asked as his brain started to finally kick in. Being pulled from one body to the other and back without warning had left him confused and off balance.

"We just dropped out of FTL," Scott replied, _déjà vu settling upon him._

"Looks like it might have temporarily disrupted the communication device," Williams supplied. It was officially getting weird with how repetitive he was finding the situation. Eli had just said similar words barely moments ago.

"We have to fix that," Telford commented as he turned and started marching down the hall in long strides.

"Sir," Scott began hesitantly following the man along the corridor. "I think Colonel Young wanted me to shut down the stones."

Telford stopped suddenly and Scott nearly ran into him. The Colonel turned sharply, face tight as his lips pursed in anger. "This is no longer his command. Is that clear?" He waited for a moment for any sign of insubordination, but Scott held his tongue. "The device stays on."

Scott watched him retreat further down the hall and he sighed softly as he steeled himself to do what he knew he must.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Young drove down the freeway quickly, weaving in and out of traffic as the sun set in the distance. The phone was pressed tightly against his ear as he drove to the hotel that the Air Force had set him up in. "A glitch?! That's one helluva _glitch_ , General."

"That's what I'm being told, Colonel," Jack replied over the phone, sounding unworried and carefree. If Young had not known the General so well, the nonchalant attitude would have pissed him off. "They're working on it."

"Yes, sir. Just let me know," he replied hanging up the phone. If only the glitch would have lasted several seconds longer.

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

Eli sat upon the couch across from Chloe, nearly yelling in order to be heard. "They said it was some sort of glitch, apparently," he told her as he put the phone in his pocket. "It won't happen again."

"How do they know?" Chloe's words slurred as she tried to keep Eli in focus, but then decided that settling on one Eli was the better way to go.

"I don't know," Eli replied smiling, and Chloe winced as the double vision faded in and out. "Right now, I don't care! Did you see the girl I was dancing with?! She wrote her e-mail address on my hand!"

"I hate this," Chloe replied, lifting her glass to her lips while Eli gazed at the words on his palm in elation. "I hate everybody."

Eli's hands folded into his lap, an enduring expression crossing his features. "Hey, Captain Buzzkill," his voice was flat as he reached over and pulled the glass away as she attempted to down the entire drink in one go. "Whoa-whoa-okay. No more drinks for Cousin Liz!" He laughed quietly as set the drink on the table to his left, too far for Chloe to reach.

Chloe's hand came up, nearly hitting him in the face as she pointed across the dance floor. "You see those two over there?" He followed her finger to a pretty blonde and snobbish looking pretty boy. "My best friend Celina and my ex-boyfriend."

Eli turned back to her, eyebrows scrunched in as he smirked at her. "You could do better," he told her honestly, smiling out to the dance floor as she continued to glare at the two. "D'you wanna dance?"

"I think I wanna go over there and punch him in the face," she replied drunkenly.

"Hey! Hey!" Eli did not quite shout as he grabbed her arms and shook her a little to get her attention. " _I_ have an idea!" When she dragged her gaze to him and settled on one of the Eli's, he continued. "How 'bout we get outta here?"

Getting out of the club was more difficult than Eli had first believed. Trying to dodge bodies while half supporting, half dragging his best friend who refused to use her legs as not easy. She seemed to sober up a little when they got outside, the fresh air doing wonders. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy." Eli mumbled as they tottered down the street and to their rented car.

"This is awful," Chloe told him as they passed the line of people still waiting to get in. "I'm not even drunk at all."

"Really?!" Eli laughed as he fished the keys out of his pocket. "'Cause you _seem_ drunk."

"My head's just all foggy."

Eli chuckled softly to himself, amused. "Almost there. Come on, come on."

"Usually it makes me feel better," she commented as he helped her over to the car.

"Huh!" He grunted in amusement but she did not seem to notice.

"At least for a little while."

Eli unlocked the car and helped her into the passenger seat. She seemed to pour into the seat, boneless and limp. "It usually makes _me_ dizzy. And then I fall asleep." The door slammed shut and he rushed around to the other side and got in just as the rain started to fall. He turned to Chloe as she made a strange gasping noise and found her bawling, mascara running down her cheeks as she cried. Turning skywards in mock despair, he tried to lighten the mood. "Just _once_ , I'd like to go out with a girl and _not_ have it end with her crying."

"My life was so shallow and pointless," Chloe mumbled through her tears, wiping her face and smearing her makeup. "And then I started working with my dad. I really thought that I could _do_ something, make a difference."

"You _can_."

She just started to sob harder. "These aren't even my tears!"

"I'm sorry," Eli bit out as he tried not to laugh at her but failed. He took a moment to pull himself together long enough to speak without laughing. "If it makes you feel better, _I_ had a really great time tonight."

She sniffled, turning to him and trying to smile through her tears. "I'm glad."

"D'you know the last time a girl _that_ hot told me I was cute?" He paused to think about it. "Never."

Wiping her tears she turned to him as she began to calm down. "Doesn't it bother you that she wasn't really talking about _you_?"

Eli looked down to the seat, chest tight with sadness. "Well…" he mumbled quietly. "When you put it like that…"

She turned to him quickly, mortified at her words. "Oh, I didn't mean that. Come on. You're cute!" He scoffed as she leaned closer. "The _real_ you." For a second he thought she was going to lean in and kiss him. But of course she did not. "What?" She asked, confused at the expression that had just crossed over his features.

"Nothing! Go on…you were saying?"

"And you're funny too. And you're a genius…"

He flushed in embarrassment. "Oh..."

"And..." she paused and Eli leaned his head back, suspecting she was going to say something else embarrassing.

"Don't say it."

"...you're a good friend," Chloe finished, and Eli sighed in resignation.

"Yes," he said bitterly. "That's me. I'm a good friend!"

Chloe leaned back into her seat. "I don't wanna be trapped on that ship. And I don't wanna be stuck here like this. I can't feel anything, can you?"

Eli gazed at her fondly, smiling a little. "Well-" he started, but she continued as if he hadn't spoken at all.

"You know what's the worst part about having a father like mine?"

"Whoa," he blinked, forehead scrunching in confusion as he tried to follow her train of thought. "How did we get onto that?"

"You can't live up to it. He was so _great_." She sighed heavily. "I'll never be like he was," she started to cry again, and Eli leaned forward in worry. "My dad definitely would have punched Josh in the face!" She bit out angrily through the tears.

Eli giggled quietly to himself, trying to keep quiet in his amusement as Chloe wallowed in her misery. "Wow!" He laughed, starting the car. "I think I'm gonna take you home."

"Could you take me home?" She asked as if she did not hear him. Eli turned to her, bewildered.

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Camile entered the Observation Deck slowly, gazing out at the stars in wonder. She would never get old of the view, but she would give it up in a heartbeat if that meant she could go home. She approached Rush slowly, trying to gage his mood from his posture as he leaned against the railing. He turned to her as she stopped next to him, smiling hesitantly, but he did not smile back.

"A lot of people are behind this," she stated, voice low and uncertain.

"Well, a lot of people play the lottery. What's surprising is they'd do it with their lives," his accent was thick, soothing to listen to, but the words held bite.

"I know you're opposed," she continued. "I have serious concerns myself. I'm just wondering how much safer it might be if you and Professor Eppes were involved."

"Have you brought this up with Charlie?" He questioned curiously.

She stared at him for a moment before scoffing in exasperation. "I tried, I had actually intended to talk to him first…but I couldn't find him," Rush snorted in amusement as she stared out the window sullenly. A few seconds later Camile turned back to him. "Doctor Rush, please, all I'm asking is that you just make sure they don't do anything to get us all killed."

Rush regarded her with an emotionless stare and Camile fought not to fidget under his gaze. The sound of weapon fire and the bright flash in space drew their attention out into the darkness.

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Greer watched the weapons discharge from the small window with trepidation as Scott paced the tiny cell. "They can't keep me locked up in here forever," Greer told him quietly.

Scott looked over at him, taking in his twitchy form and barely caged fury lurking behind nearly black eyes. "But you know he will, long as he can. What you did..." he left the sentence unfinished; it did not need to be.

They chuckled quietly, remembering the incident. "He had it coming to him. Look, just shut down the damn stones."

Scott shook his head sadly, looking down to the floor. He couldn't bring himself to meet his friend's gaze. "I'm not you, Ron. He's our commanding officer-"

Greer turned to him angrily, words biting on his tongue like lashes. "Colonel _Young_ is our commanding officer!"

"Telford's got guards posted twenty-four seven. What am I supposed to do?"

Greer turned back to the window, annoyance covering his features. He knew what he would have done, but Matt…Matt would not do what needed to be done unless there was no other choice. "This better work."

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Telford entered the Gate Room with quick strides, intent evident in his posture. His gaze zeroed in on Rush, the scientist hunched over the far left console. "What are you doing?" He asked, approaching the Scotsman.

Rush glanced up from the console, gaze darting around the empty room. Being alone with Telford made him uneasy, and Nicholas comforted himself with the fact that he was closer to the exit then the Colonel. He had always been fast; he could make it if he had too.

"I'm making sure we still have enough power to control these consoles when approaching the star."

Telford bit back his suspicion, a smug grin fighting its way on his face. He knew the surly man would come around eventually, now only if he could find Professor Eppes. "Doctor Williams says you've come up with a way of improving the odds of success."

"Well, I don't wanna die, Colonel."

"Good. Hopefully we've proven that's not our goal."

He walked away just as the lights started to go out and _Destiny_ was plunged into darkness.

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Everett stepped out of the shower, towel around his waist as steam billowed out of the bathroom. He swiped a hand across the foggy mirror, leaving behind droplets of condensation. David's reflection stared back. Blinking, he opened his eyes and found himself back aboard the _Destiny_.

"What?" He questioned glancing around confused. His eyes settled on the Scotsman. "Rush?"

Rush gave him a puzzled a look and seconds later it came to him. The Colonel's demeanor had changed into something he was more familiar with. Nicholas would never admit it, especially out loud, but a felt something tight uncoiling in the pit of his stomach and the feeling of relief wash over him. "Colonel Young!"

Young gave him a look full of determination. "Rush, don't let them g-"

"Colonel?" Rush questioned, taking a half step towards the man before that tight feeling returned. It wasn't Colonel Young anymore. Telford turned to him with a confused expression. "Colonel Telford, everything okay?"

Telford seemed to pull himself together as he straightened. "It will be soon enough," he said indomitably and marched further down the dark corridor. Rush was left standing there with a feeling of foreboding settling over him. He needed to find Eppes immediately.

Nicholas' long strides carried him quickly further into the heart of the ship, plan already forming in his mind. He had an idea of what Colonel Young was trying to say…maybe he should get Brody?

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Eli felt a moment of disorientation as he found himself back in his own body, Chloe looking around confused as Rush stared at them in interest. "All right, this is ridiculous!" He exclaimed to Rush in indignation, protesting the situation. "Jumping back and forth without any warning is completely-

"-unacceptable," he finished back in his hotel room on Earth. He took a moment to re-adjust, staring around in disbelief. "Seriously!?"

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Nicholas watched as the entire crew began to gather in the Gate Room, lugging the small personal bags that carried what little possessions that had survived Icarus. The marines filtered in, marshaling the people into something resembling order, but Rush had eyes only for one person. Professor Eppes was nearly the last to trickle in, and Rush noted that he did not have his own bag with him.

Their eyes met between the shifting crowd and Nicholas raised an eyebrow in inquiry. Charlie nodded back subtly and the Scotsman turned back to the console just as _Destiny_ plunged into the star. Charlie tried to make his way over to the other scientists, but a tight grip on his forearm halted his progress. Turning, he saw the recently released Sergeant Greer smirking down at him.

Charlie flinched back trying to pull away, but Greer tightened his grip and yanked sharply causing the smaller man to stumble into him. Doe brown eyes darted around to the others surrounding them, but nobody seemed to notice the exchange. Tentatively he looked up, meeting the dark gaze filled with amusement. "I don't think so," the Sergeant began, words sliding together like silk. "You're stayin' right here."

His eyes darted to the group surrounding the console and to Colonel Telford, his back to them. Charlie stopped struggling immediately; he wanted to be nowhere near that man. He feared Telford; there was just something _off_ about him that Charlie couldn't place. He settled almost meekly against Greer's side as the Sergeant threw a heavy arm over his shoulders.

Rush and Volker looked over from their console to the other one that Williams, McCormack, Brody, and Telford surrounded. Volker shifted anxiously beside him and Rush bit back the snide comment that sat on his tongue.

"Diverting power flow to the Stargate," Williams' voice flowed across the room. "Ready to attempt dialing."

Telford looked at the console before meeting the gaze of the scientist. "Do it."

Williams started the dialing sequence as Telford turned to the Stargate. His eyes roamed the crowd momentarily as the Gate lit up and started to spin. Charlie heard Greer chuckle in amusement as he tried to burrow closer to hide from the Colonel's gaze. Non-the-less, the Sergeant twisted until the professor was hidden by his bulky frame.

A hush fell over the crew as the Gate started to lock coordinates. Chevron after chevron began to lock and the tension was wound tighter as the group of survivors prayed for it to work. The fourth chevron locked and the room began to shake. Telford took a hesitant step back as the crowd began to murmur in uncertainty. He turned to Williams just as electricity began to spark all around the Gate.

"Step back!" Scott yelled and the crew surged away from the Gate. Charlie was lucky that Greer had positioned them closer to the bulkhead so nobody trampled on them. "Everyone back up!"

Telford rushed over to the console as Williams' fingers darted across the screen. "You're gonna overload the capacitors!" Brody shouted at him.

"Bringing power flow down," Williams sounded calm, but Brody could see his hands shaking as he tried to regain control.

The Gate continued to spin, locking another chevron even as electricity arched all around its surface. The room was filled with shouting and cries of alarm as the Gate unrelentingly continued to dial.

"Limitations are _not_ holding!" Brody's voice somehow carried over the desperate racket of the survivors.

Rush turned to them, anger coloring his features as he addressed the narcissistic scientist. "Because this system wasn't meant to handle this much power."

The ship began to shake more violently as the shield fought to remain active, the only thing protecting the crew from instant death. "Stay calm!" Telford yelled at the panicking people.

"The shield is failing!" Rush shouted back, sending them into another bout of hysterics. Despite what he knew, Charlie found himself clinging to Greer's arm as the ship trembled and the Stargate sent off currents of electricity high enough to vaporize anyone it touched.

Williams bit back his pride, hand fisting over the console as he forced the words out. "Colonel, we need to abort."

Telford eyes darted between the Gate and the people in frustration lips pursed in anger before gesturing angrily to Williams. "Shut it down!"

The scientist quickly turned back to the console, typing in the abort command, but the Gate continued to spin. "It's not working."

Telford stormed over to him, face tight with unconcealed rage. "I thought you said you could stop it!"

"I know!" He shouted back, fingers still darting around the screen, but the console continued to beep negatively at him. "It won't shut down!"

Telford glared at him for a moment before turning his ire to Rush. The doctor turned away, staring at the Gate in what Telford translated as resignation. Clenching his eyes shut in frustration he waited a moment, one heartbeat into the next before resolve settled over him and he steeled his mind. He turned to McCormack and Williams, sharing a look before retreating from the Gate Room. Seconds later the other two follow him.

Scott ran after them, halting under the threshold in rage. "Where the hell are you going?!" Rush's gaze met Brody's and he nodded slowly to him. Brody nodded back quietly and grabbed his radio before hurrying after the Colonel and the two scientists. Scott turned to Rush, racing over to him in a panic. " _Do_ something!"

Rush looked up at him, inclining his head in acquiescence, he picked up his radio and waited.

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Brody raced after the three retreating from the Gate Room. It was not hard to stay out of site since they were focused on one thing, and that was reaching the Stone Room. Telford paused at the door, keying in his code to unlock it as he dismissed the marines outside of it. Rushing into the room, he flipped the power switch and the Colonel Young was left standing there, gazing around in confusion as the ship trembled.

Eli and Chloe stood next to them and understanding dawned on them all. The plan had failed and Telford and his team had aborted, leaving them to die. Young turned as Brody ran into the room; the younger man grabbed his radio and activated it.

"They're gone."

O0O~O0O~Page~Break~O0O~O0O

"Thank you," Rush replied, relief flooding him as he set his radio down calmly and depressing a button. Seconds later the Stargate went dark, the chevrons disappeared as it slowed and then finally stopped. All went quiet as the electricity died out and the lights came back on leaving the crew scared and confused.

Moving from behind the console, Rush addressed the room calmly as the crew began to gather around him. "If I can have everyone's attention please. I'm sorry to have to tell you that, uh, we will _not_ be going home…not yet, anyway. But you can all relax and return to your quarters. The ship will not be exploding..." he smiled at them, a true smile that made the corner of his eyes crinkle and made him appear ten years younger. "…at least not today."

"Normal power levels will be restored soon, _right_?" Scott questioned as he approached him slowly.

"Yes," Rush replied, giving the crowd a quirky smile as his eyebrows raised imploringly. "Thank you!" It was said as if to ask 'why are you all still standing here?' Seconds later the crew broke apart, murmuring softly to themselves as they left the Gate Room.

Camile strode up to him, fury in every step as she fought not to cry. TJ followed after her in confusion, Greer dragging an unresisting Charlie behind. "You staged the whole thing!"

"So all of this was just to get rid of Telford?" TJ questioned.

"Had to be done," Rush replied nonchalantly, posture appearing relaxed, but Charlie could see the subtle signs of tension lining his shoulders. Doctor Rush did not like being boxed in and Charlie tried to inconspicuously move further away, but Greer's tight grip on his arm halted him before he could even shift his weight.

"So you're sayin' that the ship was never gonna explode?" Greer questioned, leaning in close to intimidate.

"Oh no," Rush turned to him, tone almost cheerful. "We would most definitely all be dead had Professor Eppes not put certain limits in place. I also arranged for the alarms and warnings to go off regardless - a bit of theatre. Always nice."

The four turned to Charlie, and the young professor tried to shrink away, but Greer forcefully yanked him forward. "You knew?" Greer demanded.

"Of course he knew," Rush replied caustically. "Who do you think input the algorithm that made it all possible?"

Charlie gulped as Camile turned her furious gaze to him. "I, uh…" doe eyes darted between Greer and Rush.

"Oh, please," Rush cut in before a situation could arise. "Their plan was never gonna work."

"You could've warned us," Scott snapped at him. "You scared the _crap_ out of everybody."

"Well, I didn't know who was on my side, did I?" Rush supplied bitterly. Eyebrows twitching upward as if to say 'think on that'. Moments later he was gone, striding down the hallway that was slowly getting brighter as _Destiny_ recharged. The others watched him leave, speechless, and Charlie took the opportunity to slip away.

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Colonel Young paced the around the table, Telford matching him step for step on the other side. The group of scientists that had come up with the plan was in attendance, along with the IOA representatives, General O'Neill, and multiple military personnel. "Colonel Telford removed not only any sense of command but the two scientists that designed and implemented the program that was causing the crisis."

"The situation appeared to be irreversible," Williams argued, pale and sweating in his blazer.

"Of course, and Doctor Rush and Professor Eppes were able to avoid catastrophic disaster."

"Yes," Williams bit out. "And we'd like to see _how_ they did that, along with the rest of the data collected during the experiment."

Young glared at him angrily a smile twisting his lips into something sinister. "Yeah, those were people's lives you were experimenting with," he sounded disgusted that he had to remind him of that.

"We were trying to get them home," Telford argued back.

The Colonel stopped his pacing, the look he gave Telford could have melted ice. "You cut and ran," the words were pressed together like heated metal, full of anger and hissing in fury.

Strom cut in before a verbal and possibly physical fight broke out. "There was no point in three more lives being lost if it could be avoided."

Jack turned to Strom, surprised at the man's blasé attitude for human life before he addressed Everett. "Colonel Telford was following orders," it was obvious though that the words left him reluctantly.

"Sure," Young murmured disbelievingly before he changed the topic. "After much consideration, we've decided to stay in communication with Earth. I hope personal visits for everyone on board will still be permitted."

"That depends, Colonel," Strom told him, shaking a finger like he was talking to a naughty child trying to negotiate his way out of trouble.

"Consider it done," O'Neill stepped in. Strom looked over at him in surprise, not having expected the General to overrule him.

"Thank you, sir," he said appreciatively before he glanced down to his watch, converting the time to _Destiny's_ clock. "I'm afraid the time that I've allotted for this briefing is now up," he threw a look at Telford, full of barely repressed rage. "General," he nodded politely at Jack before leaving the room.

Jack's face twisted into confusion, but he quickly wiped away all expression as Strom turned to him furiously.

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Eli sat at the console in his room as he watched Young's speech for the third time. It was a good speech, inspiring while commanding. Eli wished he could talk like that. "We're going to have to be tough, disciplined. The road may be longer than many of us hoped. We _will_ have to sacrifice, compromise, work together without exceptions."

The Kino turned to Chloe and Matt who were standing side by side. Eli paused the footage and zoomed in on their hands. Their hands were clasped tightly together, Chloe's thumb stroking the back of Matt's fingers as the Colonel addressed the crew. Eli gazed at the image sadly, accepting the fact that he would always be 'the friend'.

Young walked into the room quietly, finally back in his own body and comforted by the fact. "I thought you did a good job," Eli told him, gaze still fixed on the screen. "People need to know the truth...but they also need hope."

"I need you to do something for me," Young told him quietly, arms crossed as he leaned against the open bulkhead.

Eli swung his chair around, smiling slightly. "Sure thing."

"Go over the data collected as they tried to dial the Gate."

"I have already. There's a lot I don't understand."

"Well, then, you need to learn - as fast as you can, and you talk to whoever you have to," Young told him. "Scrub any fingerprints you find," at Eli's confused look Young clarified. "If the whole thing was staged I don't want Homeworld Command knowing about it. Make it look legit if it's not."

Eli gazed at him in trepidation. "You want to lie about what happened?"

"No," Young told him, straightening as he peered down at the younger man. "I just don't want this kind of situation to _ever_ happen again. What Rush did was reckless, the fact that he dragged Professor Eppes into it was even worse…but they stopped the ship from possibly exploding, taking us with it. This could have ended very badly, Eli."

The silence that followed Young's exit was disturbing and Eli quickly fumbled to fill it. The video continued to playback, and Young's digital voice filled the small room. "We _are_ going to survive. We _are_ going to make it home. Make no mistake. My first priority is to make sure that we all return to those we love."

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Young walked down the hallway slowly, taking his time as he entered the Observation Deck. He found Rush, lean frame leaning against the banister as the FTL vortex flowed passed the window. Young joined him, settling close enough that Rush could feel his body heat.

Nicholas turned a little to face him, tense with anxiety but he did not move away. There was several minutes of silence, and Rush began to relax as they just shared each other's company. "What you did was stupid," Young started, his accented drawl filling the room. "And reckless and pulling Charlie into it was by far the dumbest thing you have ever done."

"Colonel," Rush started, shifting away from the man as he geared to exchange insults with him. Nicholas flinched back as Young moved quickly, hand rising only to settle on the scientist's shoulder. Whether it was to comfort or to keep him from running away, Rush didn't know.

"Let me finish," and Rush felt his throat tighten and his stomach clench in apprehension as he settled back against the banister. Young did not remove his hand, in fact he shifted closer, and it was all Rush could do not to lash out at him. "I wanted to thank you."

"What?" he asked in bewilderment, turning to look at the Colonel. His brown eyes raked across the other man's form, looking for tells that this was not Colonel Young. But no, Rush recognized his posture and the quirky head tilt he did when he was amused.

"Don't act so surprised, Rush. The plan was never going to work and it could have potentially killed us all."

Rush blinked at him in confusion for several moments, but Everett's gaze had returned to view. Unfortunately his hand remained so the scientist could not just slink off and assimilate this new reaction in the privacy of his own quarters. After a while, Rush returned his focus to the _Destiny_ , watching the vortex swim past her frame. Pretty soon he began to relax, even with the Colonel's hand on his shoulder, and though he was loathe to admit it, he began to find it comforting.


	8. Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew of the 'Destiny' travel to a planet to stock up on rapidly depleting rations, but not all is as it seems. People die, Charlie and Greer bond, Young teases Rush, and time unravels as none if it actually happened.

_“When you’re a kid, they tell you it’s all… Grow up, get a job, get married, get a house, have a kid, and that’s it. But the truth is, the world is so much stranger than that. It’s so much darker. And so much madder. And so much better.”_

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Eli stumbled down the ramp as the small group exited the Event Horizon.  Chloe bumped into him from behind and Eli nearly dropped the Kino remote as he tried to capture their first steps on a new world.  They shared a smile as the group started to set up around the gate.  Rush walked down the ramp last, military boots just a tad too large scuffing the stone ramp as Charlie assisted him with one of the many bags he was carrying.

“Secure the perimeter!” Scott called out as the military personnel started to fan out around the civilians.

“Welcome to the jungle,” Greer’s voice floated through the group as he approached the Lieutenant, eyes fixed on the surrounding foliage in search for anything classified as dangerous.  It was difficult to see past the first dozen feet; the trees were thick, pressed together tightly, their canopy overlapped leaving few places for the sun to penetrate to the forest floor.

Scott gave him a rueful grin as he passed the Sergeant, turning to address the entire group.  “Okay, let’s get to work.”

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“So…” Eli started, shuffling around Chloe so they both could be seen by the Kino as she picked some sort of strange purple fruit from what could have been a bizarre cousin to a banana tree.  “Your first alien planet! Everything you expected? More…less?”

Chloe smiled at him indulgently as Eli gazed up at the not-banana tree.  “We saw what it was gonna be like on the Kino.”

“Eh, true.”

She sighed loudly, lungs trying to adjust to the oxygen rich environment.  It was warmer here…Chloe had almost forgot what true warmth felt like.  The _Destiny_ was always just a tad too cold, and when the night shift hit, it was even colder.  She was acclimating to it, or at least she thought she was.  Now Chloe realized it for what it truly was, she was just so used to the cold that warmth seemed like a fading memory.  “Although it _is_ nice to get off the ship, get some fresh air…even if it _is_ a bit sticky.”

Eli gave her an incredulous look as she wiped the sweat from her lips.  “So you’re not nervous at all?” Voice dipping as he tried to scare her.  “Afraid some giant alien insect is going to come out and bite you?” He hissed quietly, baring teeth as he gestured claws with his hands.  The blank look Chloe gave him had him shuffling in embarrassment.  “Sorry, I’m sure it’s perfectly safe.”

Chloe’s lips twitched into a smile as she reached for a higher bulbous purple fruit-thing.  “Everyone has to pitch in and do their share.”

“Including you, Eli,” Matt added, voice blank as he walked by, not even sparing them a glance.

Eli stared after the Lieutenant as Chloe hid a grin behind her raised arm.  “Yes, sir! Captain Awesome!” Eli mumbled quietly.

“I heard that!” Scott shouted back and Eli turned to Chloe, face red with embarrassment as she laughed at him.

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Charlie glanced over at Eli as he foraged nuts from the base of a tall tree covered in vines.  His student had all but collapsed on what either could have been a tree trunk or a rock covered in many layers of moss, it was hard to tell.  A man in desert camouflage stood next to him, staring down at the younger man. 

“What?” Eli snapped at the soldier, grabbing his nearly empty canteen and taking a long drink.  “I need a break…so hot!” Another sip and Eli shifted under the Sergeant’s accusing stare.  “All you’re doing is standing there!”

“Making sure nothing crawls up your ass,” Marsden replied with a straight face.

“And I appreciate that,” Eli mumbled back quickly as he took another drink before grabbing the Kino remote.  He zoomed it over the Sergeant’s shoulder and it focused on Chloe as she giggled.  Matt stood across from her, a bright smile lighting up his face. 

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“So…” Eli started, focusing the Kino on Lieutenant James.  “How’s it going?”

Vanessa looked up from the shovel as she set it in the hole and gave the math student an exasperated look.  “Good.”

“Digging?” He questioned and Vanessa glanced at the hole before looking back at Eli.

“Yep.”

“You doing okay? In general?”

Vanessa gazed up at him, nodding slowly as her lips pinched.  “I’m fine,” she answered, voice tight.

“Good, good. That’s excellent…” he trailed off awkwardly, eyes darting around for a distraction.  His attention fell on TJ and Marsden.  Fiddling with the Kino controls, he walked over to the two Air Force soldiers as they laughed loudly, the Kino following behind.  “What’s so funny?”

TJ glanced at him, trying to stomp down her amusement as Eli smiled at them.  “Oh, nothing,” she got the words out between giggles, but she could not stop her laughter.

“No, no, seriously,” Eli chuckled.  “You’re laughing pretty hard.”

TJ and Marsden shared a look and suddenly lost it, laughing so hard that the medic had to turn away and grab her stomach to try and control herself.  “Come on! Tell me!” Eli begged as TJ waved a hand at him, helpless as the laughter rendered her unable to explain.  Still giggling, she turned and walked off as Marsden walked back to his post.  “Why won’t you tell me?”

The smile fell from his face as they continued to walk away.  “It’s about me isn’t it?” He tried not to sound hurt, but it was difficult.  Turning, he followed after the medic.  “TJ!”

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“So…” Eli started, sitting down next to Charlie as the professor laid out a blanket and started to pull the nuts and berries from his bag.  “What do you think?”

Charlie spared him a glance, lips curled in amusement.  “About…”

“About this, all of it…” Eli trailed off exasperated, hands flailing as he tried to find the words.  “I mean, come on! We are on an _alien_ planet!”

“This isn’t the first alien planet we have been on, Eli!” Charlie reminded him, setting the food out on the blanket in groups.

Eli looked downright scandalized and Charlie had to hide a grin as he saw fire in his student’s eyes.  Very rarely did Eli get worked up about anything, but when he did he put his heart and soul into the argument.  The professor braced himself for the litany of words about to spew forth but they did not come as a bout of laughter drew their attention away and their eyes were drawn to Chloe and Matt as the whispered conspiratorially to each other. 

Charlie smiled softly, happy to see Chloe so carefree after her father’s death, but the smile fell when he took in his student’s face.  Eli looked…sad.  Corners of his mouth turned down and eyes drooping as he gazed at the young girl and the Lieutenant.  Brown eyes flickered between his student and the Senator’s daughter as understanding began to dawn.

Coughing softly to gain Eli’s attention, Charlie attempted to draw the other’s attention away from the scene of the girl he adored with another man.  “Eli,” his voice dipped, lowering so those around him could not listen.  “How are you doing?”

Eli chuckled awkwardly, hand coming up to run through his hair as a nervous smile pulled at his lips.  “Oh, you know…I’m fine.” Charlie just gave him a blank look and Eli started to pick at the dirt on the ground before he sighed.  “Okay, so I’m not so fine…I mean, it’s just…” he trailed off uncertain, and Charlie remained quiet as he tried to pull his thoughts together.  “I went and saw my mom.”

Brown eyes flickered up and softened in understanding.  “What did she say?”

Another long drawn out sigh.  “I didn’t tell her…it’s just, what was I going to say to her?!” Frustrated, Eli flung a handful of dirt to the side.  “’Hi mom, it’s me, Eli. No this isn’t my body, your son is actually stuck on a million year old space ship somewhere out in space a gazillion miles from home. But don’t worry, it’s not like we don’t have enough food or water, no way of piloting the ship, and life support that has a tendency to fail…” he trailed of, laughing nervously as his professor sat there and listened.

The silence stretched between them for several long moments before Charlie finally broke it.  “I haven’t been to see my family.”

Eli looked up at him in surprise.  “Why?! I mean, I know you have an issue with the whole swapping consciousness thing, but I thought-” he stopped himself, uncertain.

Charlie gave him a rueful smile.  “And what was I going to say to them?” They shared a small chuckle that did little to mask the resignation that settled over them.  “Besides,” he added softly, “what could their knowing do…the truth is not always the kindest of options.  It’s better if they don’t know, if they don’t ever know.”

“But, what!” Eli nearly shouted, drawing the attention of several scientists foraging near them and one of the soldiers.  Smiling ruefully, Eli waved at them before ducking his head and continuing in a conspiratorial whisper.  “What if we _die_ out here?”

The way he enunciated the word made Charlie smile softly at him.  “I know my family.  My dad and brother, they would…no.  Besides, the math backs me up on this.  Let the government figure out how to spin my death, just as long as it’s not the truth.  The truth would kill my father, for him to know that I was _here_.” He gestured around him, but Eli was pretty sure he meant all of _Destiny_ and the galaxy that they were in, not the planet.  Because the planet part was kind of pretty awesome if Eli was being honest.

Perhaps he was right, perhaps it would be better if his mom never found out.  If she knew that her son died out here, in a galaxy on the other end of space, away from everything he had ever known and everyone who had ever loved him.  It was not a pleasing thought, and now Eli could see where his teacher was coming from. 

“Hey,” Eli interrupted the quiet after a few minutes.  “Did you really create a math equation on whether or not to tell your family?”

Charlie glanced up at him in confusion.  “Of course I did…why wouldn’t I?”

Eli snorted loudly, smiling as the younger man’s look of confusion just deepened.   They were interrupted as Rush crouched down next to Charlie and started to pull out of his pack what looked like pears but also a little like potatoes.  He began to set them in a pile next to the growing collection of various fruits, berries, nuts, and tubers.  Chloe joined them and started to add to her own pile of large purple tree fruit when the others began to wonder over.

The young woman was the first to break the silence.  “How are we supposed to know what’s safe to eat?”

“We can’t know for sure,” TJ replied as she examined a small red tuber, passing the surprisingly heavy food between her hands.

“What’s the saying?” Eli commented as he crouched down on the other side of Rush.  “’A starving man…’” unable to remember the rest, he shrugged before picking up a small yellow fruit and bit into it. 

“Eli!” Charlie did not quite shout, but Rush just placed a calming hand on his shoulder and mathematician returned to sitting on the ground.  The others just stared at Eli in disbelief and curiosity as he chewed the fruit.  Seconds later, he turned and spat it out in large chunks onto a nearby bush.  Face twisted in disgust, he tried to scrape the after taste off of his tongue.

“Maybe it wasn’t ripe?” Scott questioned as he snorted in amusement.

“You try it!” Eli tossed him the rest of the fruit as he spat on the ground.

Scott caught the fruit, reflexes playing against him before he dropped it on the ground.  “Uh, no thanks.”

Taste still in his mouth, Eli reached for one of the red tubers hoping that it would taste better but Rush caught his arm and pushed it away.  “You’ve just exposed yourself now.”

“C’mon, seriously?” Eli questioned loudly, gazing down at the Scotsman as Rush just stared placidly back.

“If you had a reaction, we wouldn’t know which one caused it,” TJ explained as Eli continued to spit on the ground.  She was going to say more, mouth opened to explain, but Brody rushed over and drew their attention.

“Uh…Volker just puked.”

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“Have you eaten anything here?” TJ asked as she crouched down next to Volker.  He shook his head in negative and tried to focus on the medic.  Dale looked terrible, sitting on a tree stump.  He was slumped forward, face pale but sweating so much he was drenched in it.  Hair hung limp in his face as he swayed back and forth slightly.  TJ rubbed a hand down his back, encouraging him to drink some water, but Volker seemed to be too out of it to notice.

“Are you staying hydrated?” She continued to question him while he was still lucid.  She continued after his affirmative nod.  “Okay, what about any numbness or how’s your vision?”

“No, it’s…my head’s pounding and my neck’s a little…” he trailed off before collapsing, and TJ fumbled to catch him as he tumbled sideways.  Scott rushed to assist as Volker’s heavier frame proved too much for TJ and together they laid him out on the ground.

“We should get him back to the ship,” Scott announced as he eased Volker’s head down.  “Eli, dial back.”

Eli rushed to do just that, trotting over the bushes as Scott murmured gently to the scientist as he tried to focus his dazed eyes.  Rush moved closer to the group, hair slicked back from sweat and condensation.  Next to him, Chloe suddenly went limp and collapsed, Rush reached for her, grabbing her arm to break her fall as others cried out in alarm.

Bracing her shoulders with his other hand, Charlie darted forward and helped him lower the unconscious girl down next to Volker.  Lisa scurried through the worried onlookers and dropped down next to Rush, pulling Chloe’s head into her lap.  Still holding her arm, Rush situated her into a more comfortable position before standing and backing away a look of worry and apprehension in his face.

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Guzzling the little water that was left in her canteen, Chloe nearly choked on the liquid.  “I don’t know,” she told the medic who was crouched down next to her.  TJ’s hand was placed on her knee as she gazed at the younger woman in concern.  “I just started feeling dizzy.  It came on pretty fast.”

Pressing the back of her hand to Chloe’s forehead, TJ felt uneasy.  “It feels like you’re running a temperature.”

Chloe frowned, trying to focus her eyes as her vision threatened to swim.  “I thought it was just the heat.”

Gaze darting to Volker, TJ shifted in apprehension.  “Is your neck bothering you?”

“Yeah it just started.  It’s stiff at the back, mostly.”

Scott clenched his teeth, worry making his heart jump in his chest as he pulled his eyes away from Chloe.  “Eli?”

“Right,” Eli mumbled and Rush turned to him as the math student pulled out the Kino remote.  “I’m on it.”

“Okay, guys, listen up! Get your stuff, we’re bugging out!”

“Wait, wait, wait,” TJ jumped up, hurrying over to Matt as the Gate started to dial and people rushed to pack their equipment.  “We can’t leave,” she told him quietly.  “If it’s something that they got here, it could be contagious.”

“So, what are we supposed to do?” Scott questioned as Charlie shifted closer to hear better.  Nearby he could see Rush doing the same.

Sighing loudly, TJ looked at the dialing Stargate before noting the time on her watch.  “We have thirty-six hours before the _Destiny_ leaves.  For the sake of everyone else on board, I say we…we wait.”

“Here?” Scott questioned incredulously.  “For what?”

“At least for a little while.  Just see how this plays out,” she paused, waiting for Matt’s decision.  He ground his teeth but gave her a nod and she moved off to tell the others.

Charlie shifted uncomfortably as Scott moved over by Eli.  Eyes darting around, his gaze settled on Rush.  The Scotsman’s face was twisted in a scowl and Charlie shuffled closer to him as scientists continued to pack their equipment.  Doctor Rush sighed, taking in Charlie’s apprehensive stance before clapping the professor on the shoulder and moving to help the others pack.  Charlie stood their uncertainly before a sidelong glance from Greer had the mathematician darting over to Lisa and Brody to help.

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“It could be anything, really…” TJ sighed out in frustration as she updated Colonel Young on the situation.  “A virus, bacteria.  There’s no way to know if it’s airborne.”

“You’ve only been there three hours,” Young replied, sounding uneasy and annoyed.  Luck, it seemed, was never on their side.

“I know.  If it’s something they pick up locally, then the progression is unfolding quickly.  Sir, until we know more, I’m recommending that we don’t return to the _Destiny_ with anything that might be contagious.”

“Roger that.”

TJ shifted suddenly, an idea coming to her mind.  “Let us know if anyone on board is exhibiting similar symptoms.  At least that way we’ll know for sure if it has nothing to do with this planet.”

“Will do,” Young’s voice carried over the radio.  “Check in every hour, regardless.”

“Copy that.”

Standing nearby, Rush dropped his gear by the bottom of the ramp and threw his arms up in irritation as the Stargate disconnected.  Eli turned to Charlie and just raised an eyebrow while his professor shook his head despondently.

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Eli trotted over to Lisa and Charlie who were seated on a small rock and passing the water canteen back and forth.  The clearing was filled with the sounds of loud annoying rock music.  Greer sat a little further away, drumming his fingers on the assault rifle to the beat of the music.  Scott pulled himself away from the conversation with Chloe in order to glare at the Sergeant.  The conveyed annoyance was lost on the other however as Greer was facing the other way.

“Shut it off, Greer!” Scott snapped, patience finally losing to the irritation.  Greer looked at him for a moment before reaching for his player as he rolled his eyes.  Seconds later silence filled the clearing, only to be interrupted by an arguing TJ and Rush, the music no longer drowning them out.

“You must have _some_ suspicions.  I’ve seen you giving them shots!” Rush’s accent thickened as he fought not to raise his voice further.

“I started them both on high doses of antibiotics,” TJ didn’t quite snap back as Rush huffed in irritation.  “I hate to waste it, but given the symptoms of headache, fever and neck pain, it’s better to be safe than sorry-”

“Okay!” Rush cut in before the medic could go into detail, hands twitching at his side as he fought down the impulse to gesture in annoyance.  “So what is it? Bacterial meningitis?” The words seemed heavy, a sarcastic twinge hanging on the end and TJ sighed softly as she forced herself to calm down.

“I don’t know, but if it turns out that’s what it is, and I haven’t done anything, they could die quickly,” she admitted, pointing roughly at where Volker was sitting with Brody.

“You don’t know,” Rush sounded disbelieving and slightly annoyed.  “You’re using up our antibiotics on a hunch.”

“Yes,” she snapped at Rush’s accusing tone.  “That was my judgment call.”

Rush raised his hands before him, palms up and fingers splayed as if passing to her an invisible object, or burden.  “That’s great!”

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“I thought you said it wasn’t far,” Eli grumbled as they walked further into the dense jungle.  Matt followed behind, rubbing his neck as he fought to roll his eyes.

“It’s not,” he replied quickly and Eli turned to look at him.

He took in Matt’s flushed face and the tenseness of his shoulders and worry ate at his gut.  “You doin’ okay?”

“Yeah, fine.”

“Over here,” Greer’s voice cut off the disbelieving snort that issued from the young math student and Matt found himself grateful.

Trotting forward Eli drew even with Charlie, his steps faltering as a pungent odor hit his nose.  “Whoa! What is that smell?”

“Sulphur,” Rush replied, grabbing a kerchief from his pocket and covering his nose and mouth. 

Eli pulled his sleeve down and covered the bottom half of his face but it did little to keep the stench out.  “Hate to see the ants that made those!” 

They gathered around what appeared to be a mound made by some insect, just over a meter tall and billowing steam.  Greer and Scott walked around the group in opposite directions, keeping a close eye on the scientists and their surroundings.  Charlie tensed as Greer stopped a few paces from him, but the soldier’s attention was fixed on Rush as the scientist pulled out his flashlight and peered down the hollow center of the mound.

“Hey, hey, hello!” Eli did not quite shout as he grabbed Rush’s arm, pulling him away from the mound.  “What are you doing?  Haven’t you seen Alien?”

Rush allowed himself to be pulled away from the mound, coughing heavily, before giving Eli an incredulous look.  “You think this is what’s making people sick?” Greer questioned, shoulder gently bumping the mathematician’s as he stepped closer to the mound.

“I don’t know,” Rush replied, still coughing.

“They make chemical weapons from this stuff,” Matt commented, shifting nervously as Rush stepped away from the structure.

“Yeah, I know,” Rush bit out between hacking coughs.  “But we don’t know the exact compound or concentration.”

“Well, there’s more over here,” Greer gestured, turning to lead them but stopped as Rush waved him away.

“No, no, it’s all right.  I believe you.”

“Look,” the Sergeant did not quite snap, but his voice took on a severe edge that made Charlie nervous and inching away from the volatile man.  “I’m just saying I know she doesn’t want to make anybody else on the ship sick, but what if us staying here,” he used  his P-90 to gesture around them, “Is gonna kill us?” 

It was not a comforting thought.

The others stood around for a few minutes before they seemed to come to a silent agreement.  Almost as one, the group turned and started back to the clearing where the rest of the off-world team was situated…well off-world did not seem to suit them.  Perhaps it was more of off-ship team instead.  

Rush’s long impatient strides easily carried him to the front of the group.  Matt let him pass with an amused huff before drawing even with Eli and letting himself be drawn into a useless argument of Star Wars versus Star Trek.

Greer brought up the rear of the group, drawing even with the Professor as he stumbled over what appeared to be his own feet.  “You alright?” The soldier questioned softly, one hand around the kid’s tricep as he kept him from crashing into a nearby bush.  The baby genius was so thin that Greer’s hand easily wrapped around his whole upper arm to close over his own fingers.  Even with the Sergeant’s diligence, the kid was still losing weight.  He made a mental note to talk to Becker when they got back to up the boy’s rations.

Charlie looked up at him, eyes a little glassy before clearing.  “Yeah,” he mumbled, pulling himself upright and out of Greer’s grip.  “Just got a little dizzy.”

Greer gave him a dark look and Charlie had a moment where his brain seemed to kick into overdrive as the primitive flight or fight response reared in the back of his mind.  His own stubbornness made him stay put before he remembered that this was Greer and that he himself could not actually fight.  By the time he came to this realization, it was too late and Greer had already made his move.

Charlie ducked as Greer’s right hand snapped up, but he still was not quick enough to avoid it and a heavy hand settled on the back of his neck.  Strong fingers gripped his nape and pulled him nearly flush with the Sergeant as the others pulled further away.  Charlie thought briefly about calling for help, but the fingers dug into the muscle there and his voice just seemed to leave him completely.

The sensation of Greer’s fingers flexing against the muscles at the back of his neck had Charlie confused as it was both painful and yet pleasurable.  “Neck stiff?” Greer asked, tone nonchalant as if he was unbothered by his action.  Truth be told, Charlie believed that the man was completely unbothered.

“A little…” Charlie answered hesitantly when Greer shifted his grip, thumb resting higher up at the base of his skull.  The young man tried to shift away, but then there was a brutal pain from where Greer’s thumb pressed into where his skull met his spine.  He opened his mouth to shout, but a moan came out instead as the pain abruptly became pleasure as the headache that had been gradually increasing for the last hour finally retreated.  Charlie felt his hands come up and grip Greer’s jacket…completely on their own accord as Charlie was quite certain he had not told his hands to do that.

Greer chuckled softly, dragging his thumb down once more before pulling away.  “Come on, baby genius.  Let’s get back to the group.”

The Sergeant moved abruptly, one second he was there and the next he was disappearing through the foliage.  Charlie watched him go with a look of dazed confusion.  The man was like mercury, ever shifting and unstable.  His moods and reactions nearly impossible to follow.  “The hell?” Charlie murmured before following after him.

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“Well, this couldn’t get much worse,” Eli tried to sound cheerful, but he fell flat.  Charlie could make out the military personnel only by their torches as the rain was so thick it was blinding him to anything more than two point eight six meters in front of him.

The tarp draped over them shifted as Rush turned to look at Eli who sat between them.  “I’m afraid that’s a failure of imagination.”

“Top five desert island movies,” Eli suggested, trying not to laugh at the nearly identical looks of disbelief from both Eppes and Rush.  “What?! It’ll help pass the time!” Rush turned away, shaking his head in despair while Charlie continued to look at him strangely.  “Fine,” Eli snapped.  “I’ll go first… _Hackers_ , obvious, I know.  _The Matrix_ , uh, _Old School_ ,” he laughed.  “You’ve gotta have something to make you laugh, right?  If trilogies count as one, then all three original _Star Wars_ , but if only one, then-then _Empire_ ,” he gestured widely with the hand not holding the tarp above his head.  “Uh, four…man, this is hard.  I could pick so many.  Maybe it should be top ten!”

“TJ!” Scott shouted, barely heard over the din roar of thunder and rain.

“Yeah?” She called back and Rush shifted from under the tarp as Scott rushed to the medic.  Abandoning their tiny shelter, Rush braved the cold and wet as he made his way over to them, stumbling over a root in his haste.  Charlie watched him leave but did not feel up to vacating his small dry shelter to hear what was happening.  Beside him, Eli kept listing movies, mumbling about something called _Good Will Hunting_.

“James is not doing well,” Scott told her as Rush joined them under a tree that did little to cover them from the rain.

TJ turned to grab her gear.  “Where is she?”

“How many does that make now?” Nicholas asked as he wiped his eyes clear of water.

“Uh, that’s Chloe, Volker, Marsden, and Franklin,” TJ replied, numb fingers flicking her torch on.

“Now James, too.”

“Wait a minute,” TJ shifted closer, bringing the torch up to Scott’s face and took in his dilated eyes and pale complexion.  “Let me look at your eyes.”

Scott shifted back, trying to wave her away.  “No, I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not,” she snapped, stepping closer and laying her fingers on his overheated forehead.  “You need a shot, too.”

Scott turns from her quickly and at first Rush thought he was trying to avoid her, but then he heard rustling around them and something screeched from nearby.  Seconds later Brody screamed.  Chaos erupted around them and they could barely make out a sort of small creature latched onto his chest before the scientist fell next to the ramp and gunfire drowned out his screams.

Charlie stood so quickly that he got trapped in the tarp.  It took what felt like ages to get free and he slipped on the wet ground, hands grappling in the slick mud as he rushed over with his student.  “Dial out!” Rush yelled, skidding and stumbling over to Eli as the student scrabbled in the mud for the Kino remote.  “Dial the Gate!”

It took seconds, an eternity, for the Gate to make a connection.  But the wormhole was not whole.  It flickered and fritzed, the sound of heavy static every time it disconnected for that split second.

“ _Destiny_ , come in!” Rush yelled desperately into the radio as the military continued to fire in every direction around them, creating a circle that was rapidly getting smaller as person after person fell to the creatures.  “If you can hear, please respond!”

“What’s wrong?” Eli shouted.

“I don’t know!”

Charlie stumbled over the ramp, hands scraping on the edge as a soldier in front of him fell.  He watched transfixed as the creature burrowed into his chest, blood spraying on his face as it burst through his side and hissed at him.  The creature crawled after him and Charlie desperately scrabbled backwards, slipping in the muck and running into a pair of legs.  The thing burst into pieces as bullets tore it apart.

“We’ve gotta get outta here!” Greer shouted, pulling Charlie up from the ground by the back of his shirt and the mathematician could say with certainty that he had never been happier to see the Sergeant in all of his life.

“We can’t!” Rush gestured uselessly at the Event Horizon.

“Why’s it doing that?!” Eli cried hysterically.

The screaming grew louder and a stray bullet took the Kino down.  It tumbled to the ground just as Scott fell shouting as one of the creatures tried to borrow into him.  Desperate hands joined his in removing it and Greer flung it away by its tail before killing it with a shot from his pistol. 

Chloe tripped over the Kino, crying out as one of the things flung itself at her.  It latched onto her between her breasts and she clawed at it, falling to her knees as its sharp teeth cut into her.  It took but seconds as she lost her grip on its slick hide and she gasped in surprise before it burrowed completely into her chest cavity.  Chloe fell, eyes open but unseeing on the forest floor.  Her back seemed to arch before the creature burst out and crawled away.

The image on the Kino froze, leaving Chloe’s dead body for the others to see as they leaned over Eli to look at the footage.  Eli’s hand shook from where he had hit the pause button and the silence was deafening in the small room.  Beside him, Chloe stared at herself in stunned disbelief before bile tried to crawl up her throat and she gaged as she rushed out of the room, vomiting on the floor.

TJ rushed after her and Charlie stumbled backwards to avoid a collision.  A hand rested on his shoulder to steady him, and despite his natural inclination to avoid the man, Charlie found himself shuffling closer to Greer as he rubbed his arms in a self-comforting gesture.  The Sergeant shifted from his position in the corner, straightening his posture as the mathematician timidly pressed against his side.

Eli’s look of horror was mimicked by the rest of the group and the young student pulled himself from the screen as if he could not physically stop himself from looking.  “Okay,” he mumbled, barely heard over Chloe’s retching.  “What…the…fuck!”

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Volker rubbed his temples as a headache began to form behind his eyes.  It was a tedious and laborious process to translate ancient and the screen was causing his vision all kinds of hell.  Hurried footsteps had him looking up for any kind of distraction and he was met with the site of Brody rushing into the room.

“Hey, did you guys hear?” Brody asked, pulling Park away from her research as well as he came to a stop in the center of the Control Interface Room.

“Yeah,” Volker replied.  “There was a Kino already there,” he phrased it like he did not believe the rumor.

“How is that possible?” Parker questioned.

Brody turned to her, just as confused as everyone else and answered with the only facts he knew.  “We dropped out of FTL, the Gate dialed and we sent a Kino to check out the planet.  They go through and there’s another one already there, lying on the ground not far from the Gate.  Turns out the databank was full.”

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“Well, what’s on it?” Becker questioned as Spencer sat next to him at the table.  Everyone else in the Mess Hall was silent as James told them about what the off world team had discovered.

“Us,” she replied.

Spencer and Becker shared a look of confusion before Spencer turned back to the Lieutenant.  “What do you mean, us?”

James stirred the oatmeal like paste around her bowl as she answered.  “They’re watching the recording now, but I heard that a bunch of us are on it.”

“Doing what?”

“Going through the Gate to the planet to gather food, then apparently some people started getting sick.  I think that I was one of them,” she added the last part, sounding uncertain.

“But that didn’t happen,” Spencer reassured her.

“Obviously,” she attempted to smile back to show her gratitude.

There was a moment of awkward silence as Spencer studied her.  “You’re fine, right?”

“Apparently,” James continued, changing the subject.  “They found human remains, too.”

She shook her head uncertain as Becker and Spencer exchanged looks of concern.  “It’s weird, huh?”

They could only nod in agreement.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

TJ guided Chloe back into Eli’s room and Matt rushed to help her.  “You okay?”

“Yeah,” she replied, trying to sound reassuring but it only came off as tired.  “It just hit me.”

“You sure you’re okay otherwise?” TJ asked, eyes stuttering over Professor Eppes’ huddled form and Greer’s plain look of indifference.  Their eyes met over Charlie’s head and the look in the Sergeant’s eyes dared her to comment on it.  Wisely, she turned away.

“Yeah,” Chloe replied softly as she retook her seat next to her friend.

“Pretty understandable,” Eli commented softly and Chloe looked at him sharply.

“Not to me.”

Eli shifted in his seat uncertainly.  “I was talking about the barfing.”

“I was moving on,” she did not quite snap at him but it was close.  Eli nodded hesitantly at her and gave Scott a grateful look as the older male clapped him gently on the shoulder.  “How is this possible?”

All eyes turned to Rush and the scientist shifted from his leaning position on the bulkhead and straightened.  “I don’t know.”

“Ohh!” Eli interrupted before anyone could question the surly man.  “What about an alternate reality?”

Rush looked at him thoughtfully and Eli gave him a hopeful look as he waited for a reply.  “Sir,” TJ turned to Young.  “Given the illness that developed on the planet, I suggest that we quarantine everyone who went through to retrieve this Kino.”

Young’s eyes swept the room and he sighed in frustration.  “Scott, Greer, Eli, Eppes, and Rush.”

“And everyone they came into contact with since returning.”

“Well, that’s all of us,” Everett gestured to everyone in the room.

“Here,” she replied, arms crossing as she tugged on a loose strand of hair.  Everett recognized the tell for what it was.  She was worried.  “I’ll have to coordinate on the radio.  Brody was also in the Gateroom when they got back.”

“We were only there for, like…a half hour at _most_!” Eli argued.

“That’s more than enough time to come in contact with a contagion.”

Scott made an abortive sound of annoyance.  “Wait a second.  You’re worried because people got sick on this recording, which never happened.”

Rush sighed loudly, scrubbing a hand down his face as his eyes turned back to the screen and Ms. Armstrong’s unmoving corpse.  “Well, we don’t know that.”

Young’s eyes flicked to the Scotsman, his tone absent from the hard edge that it usually took when he talked to Rush.  “What are you saying?”

“That is clearly us.  The recording happened somehow,” Rush bit back his usual snappish response, remembering the sort of truce the two had fallen into since last month when Rush convinced everyone the ship was going to explode.  The scientist was unsure if he liked the new development with the Colonel as it seemed to be just a different type of aggravation.  Instead of cruel words and heated glares it was now stilted conversation and considering glances.  And the _touching_ , Nicholas especially did not like all the touching.

It seemed that the tentative acceptance of Young’s hand on his shoulder those many weeks ago appeared to be some sort of green light for the man to invade his personal space in a ‘friendly’ manner whenever he felt like it.  And Young seemed to ‘feel like it’ a lot.  At first it was the touching of the shoulder then arm, to a guiding hand on the small of the back to the ruffling of his hair.  And Young _knew_ it bothered him, if Rush was reading his smirk right.

All the friendly touching left him flustered and confused.  Nicholas knew how to handle aggressiveness, he grew up with a Da that had a quick temper and heavy hand and brothers that were worse.  He was raised in an affectionless household and became an affectionless man.  Gloria had been the only one to get through his spikey exterior and Rush hated it, _hated_ that somehow, Young was wheedling his way in as well.

The damnable man acted like he cared, coming to check on him to make sure he was sleeping or eating.  Guiding him to the Mess Hall with a hand on his back or pulling him down the hall to his quarters by his arm.  Young did not do it as often as Sergeant Greer did with Professor Eppes - and that was a can of worms he did not want to go near - but that the Colonel even bothered to pay a miniscule amount of attention to Nicholas’ own wellbeing honestly baffled him.  The whole thing honestly left him with a headache and an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“What do you think was wrong with the Gate?” Eli’s question drew Rush back to the situation at hand and he flushed when he realized he had been staring at the object of his thoughts.  Young raised an eyebrow at him in question and Rush turned away in embarrassment, gaze on the floor as he answered the young student.

“It looks like the wormhole connection was unstable.  It would have been extremely dangerous to even _attempt_ travel.”

Silence followed his words as everyone seemed to absorb the information.  Young gazed at Rush curiously, but the surly man refused to even look in his general vicinity.  “Sir?” TJ questioned, silently asking permission to continue with her plan.

“Go,” he replied tersely and Lieutenant Johansen strode quickly out the room, gaze momentarily landing on Eppes, but Greer’s glare kept her moving.

Eli rotated in his chair, eyes darting around the dark room.  “So, keep watching?” Young gave him a short nod and the group turned back to the screen, still displaying Chloe’s corpse.

“Can you fast forward, please?” She asked sounding a little nauseous.

“Yeah!” Eli whispered quickly, fingers darting to the buttons and skimming the footage until the Kino went dark.  Eli pressed the resume button when his own face came on the screen.  It was daylight now, and the Eli on the screen looked like he had been through a rough night.  His eyes were puffy and red rimmed, tear tracks cutting through the grime on his face as he stared at the Kino in despair.

_“Chloe’s dead,”_ the voice rang out in the silence and Matt flinched harshly at the words.  _“James, Spencer-”_ he cut himself off, sniffling as he fought back more tears _.  “Marsden, Brody, all dead.  Seven others, all military, are also deceased…I didn’t even know their names…”_

Greer shifted uncomfortably, settling sideways to offer Charlie more room as the kid tried to press closer.  Ronald lifted an arm and draped it across the boy genius’ shoulders and Charlie startled, doe eyes darting up to the Sergeant, but Greer kept his gaze on the screen.  After a moment the young man relaxed and settled into his side as they watched the screen fritz out and Eli shook the Kino. One of Charlie’s hands latched onto the fabric of Greer’s military jacket under his ribs, but Greer did not comment on it.

 

The image blurred as Eli set the Kino on something and grabbed duct tape.  _“Something’s wrong with the Gate.  Rush doesn’t think we can risk using it, even with what’s happened,”_ he paused, panting heavily before grabbing the Kino and began taping it to the top of a military helmet.  _“We can’t reach_ Destiny _on the radio either, so apparently we’re trapped here.  There’s twenty-two hours until_ Destiny _jumps back into FTL.  The creatures seem to be nocturnal.  They stopped coming once the sun came up.  Hopefully the Gate will start working before it gets dark again.  Apparently, we don’t have much ammunition left.”_

_“Eli,”_ Rush’s Scottish lilt could be heard off screen.  _“What are you doing?”_

The image on the screen rotated as Eli placed the helmet on his head and everyone was greeted with the sight of TJ attending to an unconscious Matt, Franklin sitting nearby, and a sweaty, disheveled Rush staring at Eli in disbelief.  The Kino fritzed in and out of picture before focusing on a blanket.  They could see Eli’s hand reaching down and pulling back the corner, revealing a deceased Volker.

_“Volker wasn’t killed by the creatures.  TJ says he died of the illness during the night,”_ the footage changed to those still alive, several working to gather supplies and maintain the perimeter, but many were lying down or sitting.  _“Everyone seems to be coming down with symptoms at this poi-”_

_“Eli!”_ Rush snapped angrily and the Kino focused on the scientist as he and Franklin attempted to cobble together a stretcher out of branches.  Charlie sat near him, emptying magazine clips and loading others as Greer watched on, keeping one eye on the civilians and the other on the forest.

_“Do I need to point out yet again that documenting this could be important?!”_ Eli shouted back just as angrily.

“See?” Eli gestured to himself on the screen, turning to look at everyone, especially Rush.  “See!?”

_“Who do you think is ever gonna see that?”_ Franklin questioned as he twisted some vine together to make rope.

“Us. Us! We are!” Eli shouted at the screen as if they could hear him.

_“You look ridiculous,”_ Greer told him, walking by and ruffling Charlie’s hair playfully as he passed him.  Professor Eppes spared him a glance that could have been a glare, but the young man looked too tired to put any real effort behind it.

_“It won’t fly.  If someone hadn’t shot it!”_ The image blurred as Eli turned quickly and made his way over to TJ.  She pulled Matt’s bloody bandage off and was replacing it with a new one while Eli continued to narrate.  _“Scott was bitten by one of the creatures.  He’s now in a coma.”_

_“Eli, you okay?”_

Eli chuckled darkly at her.  _“Compared to most everyone else,”_ the screen panned to a line of corpses covered by blankets and a tarp.  Charlie felt Greer shift uncomfortably next to him and glanced up to see the other’s gaze fixed on the screen, eyes dark and jaw clenched.  The hand on his shoulder flexed, tightening nearly painfully, but the other man did not seem to be aware of it.

_“Eli,”_ Rush sounded exhausted as the three men behind him tried gathered their gear.  _“Sergeant Greer has found a cave nearby.  It could be our best chance to survive another night if it comes down to that.”_

_“We could use some help!”_ Franklin snapped at the young man and Eli moved forward to assist.

The next few images seemed to be corrupted as the screen cut in and out, showing snippets of them walking through the jungle, Charlie tripping over several roots, Franklin drinking from his canteen, and Scott being carried on the stretcher.  The images finally seemed to stabilize as Eli was taking a tour around the cave.

_“So, at least it’s a defensible position,”_ Greer could be heard off screen as the Kino momentarily zoomed in on TJ tending to Scott and an exhausted Franklin resting nearby before panning to the outside of the cave.  Rush, Greer, and Eppes stood together, taking in their location.

_“Backs to the wall,”_ Rush supplied, hands on his hips as Greer looked in the opposite direction for any weak points.

_“At least it’s better than being exposed on all sides,”_ Charlie added helpfully and Greer gave him a vicious grin.

The image was corrupted again, focusing in and out of scenes.  Greer eating a power bar, Charlie pacing along the cave wall, Franklin drawing on the sandy floor, before it finally settled on Eli.  The screen went dark as Eli wiped it clean with the edge of his sweater before placing it back on his head.

_“I have a lot of respect for people who do what you do.  It’s not easy,”_ Eli told TJ as she took a seat on the cave floor.  She looked exhausted and drawn out.  Face pale and eyes bloodshot, hand clenched around her wrist as she gazed at the still form of Scott.  _“I can tell it really affects you when you can’t help people.”_

TJ turned to him, adjusting her cap further on her head before placing her chin on her closed fist.  _“It does,”_ she replied softly, almost sighing the words.

_“My mom was a nurse.  She got stuck by a needle trying to restrain a junkie in the ER…she got HIV,”_ Eli looked down in shame as the words rang loudly in the small room.  A hand rested on his shoulder, but he could not bear to look at anyone, let alone Matt.  TJ’s words of apology did little to console him.  The image focuses on Scott’s unconscious form instead, as if he could no longer endure her look of pity.  _“And my father couldn’t handle it.  He just…he just left.  I was fifteen at the time.”_

_“That must have been hard on you.”_

The Kino turned back to her slowly and Eli hummed noncommittally, changing the topic in a less then discreet manner.  _“Do you have any family?”_

_“My parents.  My dad’s retired.”_

  _“What did he do?”_

_“He was a tailor,”_ TJ smiled, face lighting up brightly as she recalled happier times.  _“He’s actually the one who taught me how to do stitches.  I remember this one time, he cut himself pretty badly with some scissors, and he sewed it up himself and kept right on working.”_

Eli chuckled softly as TJ rubbed the palm of her hand, a fond smile on her face.  _“Brothers and sisters?”_

_“A sister.  She has two kids…I miss them.”_

_“I’m really afraid that my mom is just gonna give up if I die out here,”_ Eli confessed.  Matt took in his hunched form over the console and reached out, patting his shoulder, hand sliding to the back of his neck and squeezing gently in comfort.  Eli gave him a watery smile, more of grimace, but he was grateful for the support. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

The Kino fritzed and blurred before settling on the cave entrance, rain once again pouring down as Rush tied flashlights to sticks.  Greer stuck the finished torches into the wet ground, making crude awkward looking crosses.  _“I remember as a kid, I was…I dunno, maybe seven or eight,”_ Eli turned, the Kino focusing on TJ attending to the unconscious Franklin before stopping on Charlie who sat next to him.  _“My grandfather died and my parents took me to the funeral.  Watching his casket getting lowered into the ground, it…it was the first time that I realized I was gonna die one day.  I mean, I knew people died.  I’m talking about the idea that my consciousness was gonna end.  I wasn’t gonna see what happened to the world, I…It was such an empty, dark feeling, like I was falling down a pitch black hole.  It was…it scared the crap out of me.”_

Beside him, Charlie sat unmoving, face unreadable as he gazed out of the cave to the raining forest.  He did not comment, ask questions, nor tried to console his student; Charlie just listened.  He was never good at comforting people, having not grasped the basics of human etiquette and interactions as a child, but Charlie always thought he was a good listener…when the numbers were not dominating his mind that is.

_“That fear,”_ Eli continued after a moment.  _“It was almost too much to handle.  I guess maybe I thought I’d just get used to it.”_

_“But you don’t,”_ Charlie replied, voice thick and eyes clouded as if he was recalling a dark memory.

_“No…no. It scared me just as much every time.”_

_“Most people come to recognize their own mortality at some stage of life…some defining moment,”_ Charlie told him softly.  _“And it changes you.”_

There was a long moment of silence as Eli took in his words.  Chloe shifted in her seat, eyes darting to Professor Eppes’ still form next to Sergeant Greer in the dark room, before returning to the screen.  _“What was yours?”_

_“Hmm?”_

Eli cleared his throat, looking out of the cave where Greer sat in the rain, rifle at the ready and keeping steady watch.  He appeared to not even notice the elements, as if the weather was beneath him.  It was comforting.  _“Your_ defining _moment.”_

Charlie bit his lip, running a shaking hand through his hair.  The jacket he was wearing was standard military desert issued, mostly dry but still damp around the collar and back.  He looked cold.  _“Caracas, Venezuela, 1998.”_

_“What, uh…what happened?”_

The young professor gave him a rueful smile.  _“It’s classified.”_

_“Oh, come on!”_ The Kino was jostled as Eli threw his hands into the air.  Young chuckled softly as the present Eli, the one sitting before the console, made an abortive movement with his arms as if to attempt to mimic the gesture.  _“Seriously! Who am I going to tell?!”_

Charlie’s soft chuckle reverberated through the cave.  _“Well…I suppose it doesn’t matter anymore,”_ the humor died quickly as the smile slid from his face, eyes gazing around the room.  _“Alright, uh…let’s see…”_

Eli turned to Charlie who was still tucked into Greer’s side, and they shared a smile before focusing on the screen.  _“It was, uh…late February, I think.  I was working on my dissertation in the library when two men in suits approached me.  I’ll skip the boring parts, but anyways, three days later I found myself in Caracas, Venezuela, no passport, no clue as to what was going on, and no access to contact anybody.  Didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye.”_

_“Dude! What about your family, friends…did anyone notice you just disappeared?”_

_“My mom was worried sick,”_ Charlie told him, smiling softly at the memory.  _“Doctor Fleinhardt, he was my teacher-”_

_“Doesn’t he teach like, astronomy, or something, at CalSci?”_ Eli interrupted him.

_“Theoretic physics, actually.  Anyways, he called my family after the second day when I didn’t show up and you can imagine their reaction.  So, back to Caracas, I was taken to an underground base, blindfolded…it was all very covert.  I was scared shitless.”_

Nearly the entire room turned to Charlie at the words and the genius flushed at the attention.  “What?”  He questioned, shifting uncomfortably as Greer laughed.  He could feel the vibrations from the chest he was pressed against.  Charlie tried move away from the man, but Greer just tightened his hold.

Matt grinned at him, sharing an amused smile with the Sergeant.  “I didn’t even know you knew how to swear,” Greer told him, still laughing.  The kid just flushed darker, turning his gaze to the floor but he stopped trying to pull away and his fingers tangled themselves back into the fabric of Greer’s coat.  Many in the small room saw, but no one commented.

_“What happened?”_ Eli’s voice brought their attention back to the screen and Charlie was only momentarily grateful before he realized what story was being told.  He remembered Venezuela…he wished he did not.

Greer glanced down at him as the young male became very tense, but he did not ask questions.  He chose instead to return his attention to the screen.  _“Long story short, I was there to help with running numbers, you know, longitude, latitude and stuff like that.  I was never given details, just data, and me along with three others were supposed to triangulate positions.  They never told me what it was for.  Seventeen days I was holed up underground, running numbers and then I was on my way home, they were driving us to the airport when the van in front exploded.”_

_“Jesus!”_

_“We uh, we came under fire.  The windows exploded and the car flipped.  It was mostly a blur at that point, I think I hit my head.”_ Charlie reached up, running a hand through his hair in a self-conscious gesture of uncertainty. _“But I remember Agent Markent pulling me out through the back window.  It was chaos, people were screaming and I was being yanked down an alleyway along with Jennifer and Tom, two of the others there to help.  Johnson was in the van, I don’t think he ever made it out.  Anyways, they led us down several streets and then into a building.  Jennifer took a bullet to the thigh and Tom and I were carrying her between us._

_“They took us up to the roof where a helicopter was waiting and then it took off.  Jennifer was screaming the whole time while Tom tried to stop the bleeding.  We were taken to a military base and three days later I was back home, like nothing had ever happened.”_

_“Holy shit,”_ Eli didn’t quite shout and TJ glanced over but remained by Franklin when she realized there was no danger.  _“What did your family say…what did you tell them?”_

_“Nothing,”_ Charlie admitted a look of guilt crossing his face.  _“I was told that if I were to discuss anything that I saw, heard, or experienced while I was under contract with the CIA that I would be arrested for terrorism and spilling national secrets.  I told my family that it was classified and never talked about it again.”_

_“Man that must have pissed them off.”_

Charlie laughed softly.  _“You have no idea…two weeks later, the Agent that had ‘contracted’ me showed up to hand me a metal for ‘bravery and valor’,”_ he scoffed, a bitter look twisting his features.  _“I burned the paper and destroyed the medallion.”_

_“What?!”_ Eli exclaimed loudly, the Kino shaking as the young man gesticulated wildly.  _“Why?”_

_“Because I knew the truth, I saw it on the news, in the newspaper,”_ silence enveloped them as the exhausted man seemed to be trying to find the words to say. 

Greer tightened his hold on the young mathematician as he tensed to the point where the Sergeant was afraid he would flee the room.  _“We gave them nine locations.  I didn’t make the connection at first, the news stations only named the cities, not the coordinates.  They declared them terrorist attacks, a war between the five most powerful drug cartels…”_

_“What was it?”_ Eli questioned softly as Charlie trailed off.  The younger man looked down to the ground, shame coloring his face.

_“AGM-65 Mavericks, air-to-surface tactical missiles.  A fifty-seven kilogram warhead deployed by American fighter jets.  There were 6,792 civilian casualties, 4,681civilian deaths.  914 unaccounted for.  But all that didn’t matter, because they got the people they were aiming for…all that death for 163 terrorists.”_

“Oh my god,” Chloe mumbled, hand on her mouth as she turned watery eyes to Charlie, but his gaze was still firmly stuck to the floor, arm wrapped around himself in a self-comforting gesture as he clutched as Greer’s jacket, trying to press himself into the soldier’s side.  His jaw was clenched, but whether it was in anger or trepidation, she did not know.

Eli hit the pause button as everyone turned to the mathematician.  Rush pushed off of the wall, taking an abortive step closer before halting, his movements stilted and unsure.  “What year did you say…1998?  That would have made you, what?”

“Fourteen,” Charlie replied and Young sucked in a sharp breath.  The young male stood in the silence of the room for several seconds before exploding into movement, leaving the others stunned as he rushed from the room.  There was a moment of hesitation before Greer followed him down the darkly lit hall.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

It did not take the Sergeant long to find the kid as he did not go very far.  Greer ascended the seven steps up the curved staircase in the Gate Room where he was sitting.  The baby genius was shivering by the time Greer reached him, rubbing his bare arms to retain heat.  Sighing softly, he removed his jacket and tossed it roughly on the professor’s shoulders before sitting close enough to press the kid into the side banister.

Charlie looked up at him in surprise, hands fluttering on the jacket uncertainly before the dark glare had him pulling it on completely.  It was tailored to fit Greer’s wider shoulders and larger torso, so it practically dwarfed Charlie’s much smaller frame.  But it was warm and it smelled like Greer.  It had Charlie relaxing into the heat pressed against his left side and ignoring the confusion that the volatile man had evoked.

Greer was a strange man, quick to anger, slow to cool, a mind that was geared for strategy, and a tongue that could cut anyone down with a few words.  He was an intimidating figure, his presence taking up nearly the whole room.  And for some strange reason, Charlie had evoked his interest and it terrified him.

Ever since their arrival on _Destiny_ , the Sergeant had made himself a constant in the professor’s life.  Relentlessly in the background, yanking him roughly from one place to the other, Greer seemed intent on inserting himself into Charlie’s life.   Nearly three months they had been onboard this ship, the _Destiny_ , and somehow, in that time, Greer’s presence went from something to be feared to comforting.  It honestly alarmed Charlie, but he was too tired and too desperate for any kind of human contact that Greer’s callous handling was almost soothing.

They did not say anything for a long while, just sitting underneath the pale yellow lights.  Eventually the silence was broken by Greer as he shifted to look at the younger man.  “You gonna’ be alright?”

Charlie drew his knees up to his chest and laced his fingers over ankles.  Staring ahead, he half attempted a shrug before glancing at the soldier.  “I’m always alright.”

Greer’s lips pulled into what could mockingly be called a smile, but it had too many teeth and looked a tad vicious.  “You’re a terrible liar, you know that?”

Turning away, Charlie huffed as he set his chin on his knees.  “So people keep telling me,” he mumbled.  He was definitely not pouting.  “What about you?”

“What about me?” Greer’s question was casual, but his tone was sharp and his voice dipped into an almost growl.

Charlie tensed next to him, acutely aware that the man sitting there was trained to kill people for a living.  He hesitated, eyes staring blankly forward as Greer’s dark gaze bore into him, but eventually his stubbornness won out and Charlie refused to be cowed.  “Are you alright?  I mean…I saw how it was…how you-”

“It didn’t happen,” Greer cut him off.

Charlie shifted, shoulders tense as he clutched at his fingers and he curled into himself, almost expecting the soldier to lash out at him.  “We’re not exactly sure _what_ happened.”

Greer snarled at him and Charlie jolted in place, ready to flee if he turned hostile.  But Greer made no other hostile action and Charlie felt himself relaxing slightly.  “I know I didn’t go to that planet and have all those people die under my watch,” he growled.

Charlie finally turned to him, but Greer was the one looking away this time.  “You know it wasn’t your fault, right? I mean, it didn’t look like there was anything anyone could have done differently.”

The younger man flinched as Greer turned to him suddenly and glared.  His black eyes volatile as his whole body shifted towards the mathematician.  One of Charlie’s hands darted to the banister, ready to pull himself up and flee.  “I am not interested in what _did not_ happen,” Greer bit out before he turned forward again and Charlie nearly heaved a sigh of relief.  His heart was pounding a mile a minute and his palms were sweating, but the soldier seemed more tense then he was.

Cautiously, Charlie let himself relax back into Greer’s side.  He was hesitant and careful, watching for any negative reactions from the unpredictable man.  Greer was like a statue, jaw tense but unmoving.  Limited to human reactions as he was, Charlie did not know what to make of Greer, and he could not tell if his presence annoyed the man or comforted him.  Undecided, but hopeful, Charlie prayed that Greer would not kill him as he fully relaxed, pressing once again into the man’s side.  Greer sat completely still, neither pulling away or shifting closer, but Charlie called it a win as he was still alive.

If Charlie was a smart man, he would have just let it be.  “It wasn’t your fault,” Charlie reiterated, wincing as he told himself to shut up.  He may have been a genius, but nobody said he was smart.  “You could not have known, none of us could,” and there went his mouth.  His brain screamed to stop talking, but he could not seem to get ahold of his thoughts and his mouth just ran ahead with them.

Greer glanced sharply down at him and Charlie failed to hide his flinch as he quickly averted his gaze to the steps.  Greer smirked in amusement and bumped the younger man gently with his shoulder.  Charlie looked back up at him hesitantly, hair falling into his face as if he was trying to hide.  “Doesn’t it bother you?”

Charlie’s eyes darted around the Gateroom before he shrugged.  “Like you said, it didn’t happen.  But I need to know what happened next.”

“Why?” Greer growled the question.

“Because, all those people died and I want to know why,” Charlie replied, head tucked into his knees.  “Maybe it won’t happen again, but if it does, that video is the only clue we have on how to stop it.  Maybe this time we could save everybody.”

When Charlie looked back up and met Greer’s gaze with his doe eyes, Greer felt himself sigh in defeat and heaved himself to his feet.  Charlie startled at the sudden movement, and again when Greer shoved a hand into his face.  He stared blankly at it for a second before Greer twitched his fingers back towards himself and Charlie finally understood that he was offering a hand up. 

Cautiously, the younger man released the banister from his white knuckle grip and took the hand.  Charlie could see the other man’s biceps flex under his t-shirt as he was hauled into standing.  Greer’s hand was strong and warm, and Charlie could feel callouses on his palms and fingers.  Most likely from hard labor and constant use of a gun and knife.  Once stable, the young mathematician yanked his hand back and started to pull the jacket off, but a tight grip on his wrist halted him like a deer in headlights.

“Keep it for now,” Greer told him, dragging Charlie down the stairs and out of the Gateroom.  “You’re too thin, nothin’ on you to keep you warm.”

Charlie huffed in annoyance and tried to yank his arm back but Greer just tightened his hold and continued to pull him down the corridor.  After several seconds of what obviously was a losing battle, Charlie conceded defeat and let Greer drag him along as they made their way back to Eli’s room.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Colonel Young watched Sergeant Greer and Professor Eppes heading back to the room, Greer pulling the other man down the corridor.  He smiled faintly in amusement at the Professor’s disgruntled look at being manhandled.  Young would have made a point to talk to the Sergeant about appropriate behavior with civilians, but he knew from personal experience how difficult it was to deal with them.  His eyes darted to Rush who was standing with Chloe and Matt as the conversed quietly. 

Besides, he knew that Greer had this weird protective behavior when it came to Charlie.  He was unsure if it was because Charlie was the youngest person on the ship next to Chloe, or if it was because Charlie had saved everyone’s life by holding the Stargate open.  Greer was almost upon them with Charlie in tow when a surprise shout had him turning back into the room. 

Scott was lowering an unconscious Chloe to the ground, Eli hovering anxiously while the Lieutenant braced Chloe’s head and neck as he laid her down.  “What just happened?”

Scott looked up at him, kneeling on the floor, hand still supporting the young woman’s head.  “Uh, she started complaining that her head hurt.  Then she just dropped.”

“It’s been three hours since we dropped out of FTL,” Rush commented, his Scottish lilt calm but suspicious.

“That’s about the time people began to get sick on the planet in the recording!” Eli exclaimed as Greer and Charlie came up behind the Colonel. 

“Well, shit,” Greer commented unnecessarily as Rush helped lift Chloe into Matt’s arms.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

“TJ?!” Scott did not quite shout as he carried Chloe into the Infirmary.  She hung loosely from his arms and he tried hard not to panic as her breathing became irregular.

“Yeah,” TJ glanced up and saw them, worry coloring her eyes as she found an empty bed.  “Right here,” she gestured and Matt laid her gently onto the sheets.  “They said she just passed out?” Matt nodded his head as Young came up behind them.  “I’ve got four more cases.  So far everyone who went to the planet or came in contact with someone who did.”

Young sighed loudly, pinching the bridge of his nose as he glanced around to the other occupied beds.  “Can it be contained?”

“I don’t know,” TJ replied honestly, shining a pen light into Chloe’s eyes as Matt hovered anxiously nearby.  “But whatever it is, it’s extremely virulent.”

“On the uh…” he trailed off, approaching them and lowering his voice so the others nearby would not hear.  “On the Kino recording, Volker died because of it.”

TJ sucked in a sharp breath, the back of her hand coming up to wipe at her brow.  “How quickly?”

Young blinked slowly and his jaw clenched as he took in her worried expression.  “Within twelve hours.”

She turned her gaze back to Chloe, eyes catching on the hand that was grasped with the Lieutenants own.  It was not good news, and TJ felt her heart tighten at the mere thought of it.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

_“M-4 carbine,”_ Greer told Eli and Charlie as they watched him handle the rifle.  He demonstrated the proper grip and posture as he aimed into the forest.  _“Hold the grip firmly, stock braced against your shoulder.  It’s got a kick,”_ he commented, demonstrating with his shoulder how the rifle would kick back when fired and how to adjust the stance so they did not lose their balance.  Turning to look both of them in the eye, he continued, voice firm.  _“Keep your finger off the trigger ‘til you’re ready to kill whatever you’re pointing at.  Short bursts.  We don’t got much ammo,”_ offering the rifle to Eli, the Kino’s vision went the ground as the younger man tried to figure out the proper way to hold it.  _“Go ahead.”_

_“Ooh, you mean shoot for real?”_ Eli’s voice was excited as he raised the rifle and looked down the barrel. 

Immediately Greer brought his hand over the top and pushed it to aim and the ground again.  Shoving the rifle to the side, Greer pointed to the forest.  _“That way. Okay…safety’s off.”_

Taking several quick breaths, Eli brought the gun back up and raised the rifle at a tree about fifteen yards off.  He opened fire, finger clutching down on the trigger as bullets burst from the muzzle in a continuous spray for several seconds.  When he let up, several smaller trees fell to the ground and Eli laughed in delight.  _“Ooh! Oh, man! That is so cool!”_

He turned back to Greer as the other rubbed his head in frustration before pulling his cap back on.  _“What happened to short bursts?”_

_“Uh…oops?”_

Sighing in annoyance, Greer turned to Charlie, gesturing for him to come out of the cave.  Hesitantly the mathematician shuffled up to the two and Greer snatched the rifle from Eli and shoved it into the Professor’s hands.  _“Your turn, little genius.”_

Charlie fumbled with the gun momentarily as Greer shoved him forward.  _“Uh, okay?”_

_“You know how to shoot a rifle?”_ Greer asked as Eli stepped back to give them room.

Charlie shook his head, a hand coming up to wipe the hair from his face where it had gotten stuck to his sweat.  _“No, just a hand gun.”_

_“Alright then,”_ Greer smirked at him, coming up from behind the younger man.  He grabbed the gun and adjusted his stance and grip mechanically, like he had done it a thousand times to others who were learning to shoot.  _“Trigger’s here, don’t touch it unless you wanna kill what’s on the business end.  Stock goes here, hand there.”_ It only took seconds to put Charlie into the right stance and hold as he aimed at the same tree Eli shot.  _“_ Short _bursts only,”_ Greer did not quite snap as he stepped back.

Charlie took a steadying breath and squeezed the trigger before quickly releasing it, allowing only three bullets to burst into the wood.  He took another breath before doing twice more and then relaxing his stance and pointing the barrel to the ground.  Greer came back up and took the rifle from him, snapping the safety back in place and roughly patting Charlie on the shoulder.  Charlie winced and grabbed at the shoulder that the other had manhandled, feeling around and pressing into the muscle cautiously.

Greer laughed at the gesture, slapping his same shoulder again as he moved to place the rifle propped against the cave.  _“Told you it had a kick.”_

_“Actually,”_ Eli cut in, moving to get under the shade.  _“You told me, not him.”_

Greer’s only reply was to laugh louder.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Greer held up the small block of C4, one side ragged from where it had been cut into halves.  He hated having to ration explosives like that, the bigger the explosion the better, but they had no way of getting or making more at the moment, so Greer turned his four blocks of C4 into eight.  He wished they had more, but not everyone carried explosives and four blocks of it was all they were able to find amongst the bodies of dead soldiers and his own supply.

Creeping forward cautiously, Eli shuffled back as Greer dropped the block into the mound that emitted Sulphur.  Greer rushed back to him, walking backward to make sure one of the creatures did not climb out.  Shuffling behind a rock, Eli crouched to the ground as the Sergeant took out the detonator and switched it on.

_“We sure they’re down there?”_ Eli questioned, voice soft as he was afraid to wake anything.

_“Saw ‘em go home last night.”_

_“You really think this is a good idea?”_

Greer smiled viciously at him.  _“Best defense is offence.”_ He leaned forward, rifle ready as he turned to the mound.  _“Fire in the hole.”_

_“Yeah, literally.”_ Greer flicked the switch with a smile on his face.  The mound exploded outward and Eli barely remembered to duck in time.  _“I hope we didn’t just piss them off.”_

Standing, they both cautiously made their way to the hole in the ground where the mound used to be.  Greer walked with his gun ready, stepping over bits and pieces of the creatures that attacked them the night before.  Eli’s breathing increased the closer they got, before they were finally upon the hole itself.  _“Oh, wow!”_ He laughed as he nudged a mostly intact creature as Greer stepped around the other side.  A chittering noise had him turning quickly and Greer opened fire on the creature that had been rushing to Eli.  The bullets tore through it, spraying its yellow green blood in every direction before its insides became outsides.  _“O…kay. That’s disgusting.”_

Greer started walking away, stepping over a downed log.  _“Come on, we’ve got more of these things to hit.”_ Eli stepped cautiously around the hole and followed Greer at a much more sedate pace.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Charlie entered the cave, stumbling over a rock as he tried to get the water out of his face.  His hair was plastered back and his clothes completely soaked as the rain came down heavily from the sky.  Rush and Greer followed him in and Eli stood from his place next to TJ.  Franklin had fallen unconscious nearly six hours ago and Eli could tell that TJ was starting to get really worried.  There was nothing she could do for him here, maybe if they were on the _Destiny,_ but not planet side.  That did not stop her from fussing though, and she took his vitals for the fourth time in an hour.

_“Did using the other remote help?”_ Eli asked hopefully as he made his way over to the three.  Rush and Charlie were standing close together, speaking quietly and sharing body heat.

Rush slicked his own hair back and gave the young man a pinched look as he shook his head.  _“We were able to get a connection, but the wormhole’s unstable.  Nothing from the_ Destiny _on the radio.”_

_“Well, is it broken?”_ Eli asked as Greer crouched down next to Lieutenant Scott.  He placed two fingers on his jugular and checked his watch before making his way to the cave entrance and standing guard.  _“Or is there a chance it could resolve by itself?”_

_“There are a number of things that could be causing temporary interference,”_ Charlie supplied distractedly as he moved over to TJ to see if she needed any help.  They talked quietly together for a moment before TJ shook her head negatively and all but collapsed back onto the rock behind her.

She sighed heavily while looking up at the cave ceiling and tugged her hat down a few times in frustration.  Charlie sat down gingerly next to her, and when she shuffled closer to get warm he relaxed into her.  He started for a moment when her head hit his shoulder but TJ ignored the reaction and closed her eyes to doze for a bit.

_“Well, we have eleven hours until_ Destiny _jumps back into FTL,”_ Eli tried to sound hopeful, questioning silently if that was enough time for the problem to be fixed.  He had to remind himself to calm down before he started to hyperventilate.  A lot could happen in eleven hours and the thought terrified him.  Never before could Eli ever say that he wanted nothing more than to be back on the _Destiny_.

Rush glanced at him before shaking his head in defeat and gazed at the floor as he shifted about restlessly.  _“There’s no way of telling how long it’s gonna last.”_

_“And I guess it would be crazy to just try and go anyway.”_

_“Look,”_ Rush bit out, hand gesticulating in the way that it does when he is trying to make a point.   Frustration and anger made his accent thicker as the words poured from him.  “ _We can’t assume that the Gate is even connecting to_ Destiny. _There’d be very little chance of surviving an unstable wormhole.”_

Eli turned to the others: Franklin and Scott on the stretchers, Greer on the rock as he kept watch, TJ and Charlie pressed together against the opposite side of the rock.  He could not understand how it could only be the seven of them, less than half the number that came through the Gate.  _“A fire would be nice,”_ Charlie commented wistfully as TJ moved closer to him to keep warm, tucking in sideways as she pressed her cold hands into his stomach.  The Professor winced at the sensation, but neither commented nor moved away.

_“I couldn’t find any dry wood,”_ Greer replied without taking his gaze off of the foliage outside.  Rush grunted in annoyance and shuffled over to sit on Charlie’s other side, pressing their arms and legs together.  It helped to keep the shivering down at least.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Scott rung his hands together, pulling his fingers and worrying the skin at his knuckles.  A nervous tick he had not indulged in since he was a child, but this time he could not seem to stop himself.  Chloe lay unmoving upon the infirmary bed, her chest falling and rising at a steady but gradually slowing pace.  Her eyelashes fluttered upon her cheeks as if dreaming and Matt reached up to grab her hand, but it was of no use.  Her eyes did not open, and her fingers did not squeeze back.

His attention darted to the other corner of the room where Vanessa lay just as unmoving.  It seemed so unfair.  They had just been moving past the grudges and hurt feelings and were forming a friendship again.  And Chloe and Vanessa just started to seek each other out in a tentative way.  They could be great friends, he knew, if only given the chance…and the time.  But time seemed to be something everyone was short of these days.

TJ cleared her throat to gather Matt’s attention as he stared blankly around the infirmary.  His dull gaze finally pulled to her and she tried to smile reassuringly at him but it came out more as a grimace.  “Are they still watching the recording?”

His chin twitched as his bottom lip trembled for a moment, and TJ watched as he extracted his hand from the Chloe’s and squeezed his own fingers in a punishing grip.  “Yeah,” he said after a steadying breath, his tone to calm to be anything but forced.

Eyes darting around the room, TJ lowered her voice and leaned over Chloe’s prone form to remain unheard by the others.  “I don’t know what to do,” she confessed quietly, worrying her bottom lip as she fought to control herself.  “They just keep showing up and I don’t have nearly enough antibiotics for all these people.” I’m just a medic, not a doctor was heard but went unsaid.  She was not qualified for this, but unfortunately she was the most qualified out of everyone they had.  And that terrified her.  “It would help if I knew the cause.”

The Lieutenant did not know how to answer her, he was unsure if she was even looking for an answer.  But if it was comfort she sought, he could not give it to her.  Everything he had was for Chloe, and it was not enough.  Movement from the entrance caught his awareness and he sighed in relief as TJ turned her attention to where Lisa was bracing herself against a table.

Vertigo overtook Doctor Park and TJ reached her just in time to steady her.  “You’re not feeling good?” She asked softly, gently turning her with hands on her shoulders.

“No,” Lisa replied softly, voiced strained as the room seemed to spin around her.

“Okay,” TJ guided her carefully out of the infirmary, one hand on her back and the other on her arm.  “Let’s go slow.”

They walked slowly down a short hallway, Lisa relying heavily on the wall and TJ’s support.  The room next to the infirmary was bare except for a few crates and over a dozen makeshift beds lined upon the floor, nearly all of them occupied.  TJ led her to an empty one near the back and helped her lay down.  Lisa was pale and sweating as TJ tucked her in, laying a hand upon her forehead to check her temperature.

Frowning, she promised to come back with water as she left the room.  What she said to Matt had not been an exaggeration.  She had no idea what she was going to do.  And it only seemed to be getting worse.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

_“See anything?”_ Eli yelled over the sound of the rain.  It was falling hard enough to be mistaken as a waterfall.  The young man held the rifle in his hands, grip slipping as the water made it hard to hold onto things.  Behind him the light on the makeshift post flickered and Eli turned his attention to it briefly, but after a moment it steadied and held.

_“No,”_ Rush replied, slicking his hair out of his face as his gaze never wavered from the foliage.  Charlie was crouched beside him, tying a bandana that belonged to Greer around his head, the edge helping to catch water and lead it down the side of his face instead of in his eyes.

_“Good,”_ Eli commented softly as Greer tugged on the bandana in an entirely unhelpful manner.  The soldier only laughed as Charlie glared up at him and proceeded to retie it in place, shifting away so he was out of reach of the Sergeant.  _“Maybe we got ‘em all today.”_

Forcing his attention back to the forest, Eli hummed to himself softly as the torch at the end of his rifle made careful sweeps across the plants and trees.  Adrenaline pumping, the student reminisced briefly that the experience felt almost like a video game, but reality crashed in when he remembered that game over meant death.  Huffing at the terrible visibility, Eli started as lightning flashed across the sky and lit up the whole area in dazzling brightness for a fourth of a second.  It was long enough for his eyes to catch movement in the bushes, but not long enough to figure out of it was the wind or the parasites.

_“Did you see that?”_ He yelled, turning to the others.  _“Did you see something? I-I think I saw something!”_

Greer glanced over at him, rifle at the ready and pointed out into the darkness.  _“If you see anything move out there, don’t ask…just shoot.”_

_“Right…right,”_ he mumbled to himself as the flashlight behind him flickered again and he turned back to it, briefly catching the sight of the Medic further back in the cave.  She was standing between Franklin and Matt, gun at the ready should the parasites break through their first wall of protection. 

The flashlight flickered twice more before fading out completely and casting Eli’s side into darkness.  _“Hey, I think the batteries on this one are dead!”_ He shouted, tapping the torch as he prayed for it to work.  It stayed stubbornly dark.  _“Damnit.”_

“The Kino has night vision,” Eli commented at the screen in indignation, gesturing helplessly at his video self.  “Why didn’t I turn it on?” Seconds later, the Kino screen turned into black and white, the colors inverted to display the dark areas as the brightest.  “Oh, never mind.” Behind him, Charlie huffed in amusement.  It was hard to see his face as Greer had nearly crowded him into the corner and pressed against his side. 

Young was almost positive that Greer would have stood in front of Charlie to keep him from watching if the baby genius did not have a restraining hand in his shirt.  Several times he had seen Greer move as if to block the other’s view, but Charlie would tug on his shirt and make a low noise of annoyance and Greer would settle back against his side.  Everett found his lips curling in amusement despite himself. 

He honestly did not know what to think about this thing they had going on between them.  At the moment it seemed to be bouncing between overprotective big brother, personal bodyguard, jailor, and occasionally it would seem to fall into the jealous lover category if he did not know any better.  On any other posting, in any other assignment, with any other Commanding Officer, Young may have seen it as a problem and dealt with it accordingly.  But this was not just any posting or assignment, and he liked to think of himself as an understanding Colonel, so Young let it be. 

At the moment there strange relationship helped them function.  It kept Professor Eppes healthy by giving control of him to someone else.  Greer made sure he was fed and slept the minimal amount at least, something the boy genius seemed incapable of doing himself.  And in return Greer had somebody who he could protect, which kept him out of trouble.  Greer needed somebody to need him –whether Charlie knew he needed Greer was not up for debate– and when Greer was not needed, he got into trouble.  Like that thing with Telford that got him locked in the brig.

Turning back to the screen, Everett forced his attention on the situation at hand.  At first the footage seemed to be the same as the rest of the night: wet but calm.  Then bright spots started to appear from the trees, dangling from the branches and falling to the forest floor.  _“Oh boy…”_ Dozens of the creatures started to pour out of the foliage and Eli immediately opened fire.  The creatures started to shriek and chirp as the rest of the group fired upon them.

A few of the parasites explode from the bullets but then his rifle jammed and Eli kept squeezing the trigger as if it would work.  He turned quickly to Greer, but the other man was meticulously taking them out, not a bullet wasted.  Crouched between them, Rush and Charlie were the most surprising.  Rush fired his rifle in short bursts as Greer taught them, and though his aim was not great, he still managed to keep the closest ones from getting into the cave.  Charlie on the other hand seemed to know sort of what he was doing, finger sliding along the trigger as he took careful aim.  And when his rifle clicked empty he dropped it and reached for the hand gun instead of wasting time trying to reload.

_“Come on, come on!”_ Greer shouted as he opened fire in wide arcs, trying to create a barrier of bullets.  There were just too many to pick and choose a target at this point.  It seemed as if hundreds of the creatures were falling out of the trees.  _“Don’t stop! Keep firing!”_

Eli glanced helplessly between them and the creatures, pulling the near full clip out and shaking it before slotting it back into place and pulling the trigger.  No bullets came out and Eli cried in frustration.  _“It’s jammed! The rifle won’t shoot!”_

_“Here!”_ Charlie shouted, tossing his own rifle at his student along with an extra clip.

Eli looked away from the screen as his counterpart struggled to change the clip, fingers slipping over the metal as the rain continued to pour.  “I don’t think we’re gonna to make it…” he whispered in horror.  Young glanced over at him as Charlie stepped up and placed a hand on his shoulder in comfort.  Beside them, Rush looked quite pale and his hands trembled at his sides.

The sound of a gun going off inside the cave halted Eli’s frantic fingers as he finally snapped the full magazine into place.  A parasite that got past the front group exploded as TJ shot round after round into it before another parasite got past the group and was met with the same grisly death.

The silence of gunfire from the front of the cave had Eli turning back quickly and once again opening fire as everyone else reloaded.  Greer crouched down next to Charlie as the Professor tried to reload the clip, but he was numb from the cold and trembling in fear and his fingers kept slipping over the wet metal.  Snatching the gun from him, Greer efficiently reloaded the clip with the ease of one who had done it hundreds of times before handing it back grip first.

Charlie grabbed the gun, but Greer refused to release his hold on it until the boy genius looked up at him.  With his other hand, Greer grabbed him by the back of the neck and squeezed hard, pulling him forward slightly to be heard better.  _“Keep firing, we ain’t gonna die tonight.”_ He nearly shouted, giving the younger man another quick shake.  _“You hear me! We ain’t gonna die tonight!”_ Only after Charlie closed his eyes and nodded his head did Greer release him to shoot at the creatures.  Seconds later the Professor’s bullets joined his.

Eli’s rifle clicked empty again just as Rush threw his own to the ground and started to rummage through the bag next to him.  Greer had the last of the rifle clips, but there were several hand guns within the bag.  _“Rush! I’m out!”_ Eli shouted, moving towards him and gesturing to the bag.

Nicholas’ fingers finally skittered across the gun and he pulled it out of the bag along with the Kino remote.  _“I got this!”_ Greer shouted at him when the scientist glanced over.  Rush stood and the Sergeant immediately began to lay cover fire as the scientist ran through the trees and towards the Stargate.

_“Hey! Hey, where are you going?!”_ Eli shouted helplessly as Rush disappeared into the forest.  _“He’s crazy,”_ he yelled at Greer and Charlie as the opened fire in wide arcs towards the ground in front of the cave.  Turning back to where Rush had disappeared to, Eli took several steps forward before shouting again.  _“You’re crazy!”_

Rush shifted off the wall in a moment of discomfort as everyone’s attention in the room turned from the screen to him.  “You are,” Eli commented softly, but Rush just shrugged, equally confused at his counterpart’s actions.  On the screen foliage seemed to flash by in bursts as Eli ran through the forest.  “Why did you run into the forest?”

The look Rush gave him was a combination of incredulousness and confusion.  “Why did you run after me?” Rush replied diplomatically.  Eli opened his mouth to reply but instead chose to take the safer route and sulk in silence instead.  On the other side of him, Young chuckled softly to himself.

_“Come back!  Wait…dude, come on!”_ Eli screamed as he ran through the forest.  It was hard to make out the surroundings with the night vision as the screen fritzed out every few seconds.  Suddenly, all they could see was the ground as the night vision failed and Eli fell hard.  _“God, son of a b-”_ the screen fritzed again before Eli burst out of the forest and into the clearing where Rush stood, the Gate open before him.  _“Wait! Stop!”_

Rush paused halfway up the ramp.  His shirt was plastered to his torso and his hair was slicked back as the deluge continued to pour down.  He looked like a drowned rat, and equally as miserable.  _“Someone’s gotta try!”_ Rush cried.  _“You and I both know we’re not gonna make it without_ Destiny _!  I’ll radio if I make, then you’ll know it’s safe.”_

_“If?!”_ Eli screamed, stepping closer as Rush shifted towards the Gate.  _“But…you said-”_

_“Hey!”_ Rush grabbed his arms, squeezing his biceps.  It was as close to a hug as anyone had seen him get and the gesture was not lost on them.  _“For a moment there, I thought we were in trouble.”_

_“What?!”_ Eli shrieked as Rush ran up the ramp and threw himself through the Event Horizon.

There was a long moment of silence in the small room after Eli paused the footage.  His chair squeaked as he frowned at the surly scientist.  “For a moment there, I thought we were in trouble?” Eli repeated back to him.

Rush gazed at him with what could be classified as affection, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, but it was Young who answered the student.  “ _Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid_ ,” Everett’s voice drew everyone’s attention.  Even a surprised Rush’s.  “It’s Butch’s last line before he and Sundance run out to face the Bolivians.”  He turned his attention to Rush, catching his eyes with his own.  “One of my favorites, too.”

“Well, well,” Rush replied, amusement in his tone.  “We _do_ have something in common after all.” It was said almost wistfully, as if he could not quite wrap his mind around the idea. 

They briefly share a smile before Young gestured back to the screen. “Eli,” he prompted.  Eli let out a breath before he resumed the video.

“Destiny? _Come in!_ Destiny?!” Eli barked into the radio, eyes on the Gate as the Event Horizon flickered unstably.  _“Come on, someone answer me! Rush!”_ The Gate shut down and there was no reply.  Groaning in disbelief, Eli ran back to the cave, the sound of gunfire leading the way.

Charlie had moved to Eli’s original position, taking out the creatures that got too close with his glock while Greer continued to make wide sweeps with his rifle.  _“Greer! Professor!”_ Eli called out, letting them know his position so they would not shoot him on accident.  He was unsure if they heard him, but no bullets seemed to be coming at him so he ran for the cave regardless.

Just as Eli was pulling himself over a rock and back into the cave, Charlie abandoned his position and rushed to the other side as Greer went down.  _“Greer!”_ Charlie ran to his side, grabbing the creature that was trying to burrow its way into the soldier’s chest.  Its skin was slick and hard to get ahold of, but Charlie refused to let it go.  _“Greer! Get up! Come on!”_ Greer dropped his rifle, screaming as he tried to dislodge the one on his chest when another latched onto his thigh.

Charlie cried in frustration as the creature beneath his fingers dug in deeper despite his efforts.  Changing tactics, he reached instead for the gun to blast it off when pain in his back suddenly blinded him.  He fell next to the soldier, screaming as something seemed to stab at his back and shove between his ribs.  Inside the cave TJ was screaming and for a moment that was all there was. 

There was no more bullet fire, just screaming.

“Colonel Young, Doctor Rush,” TJ’s voice broke over the video and Eli was quick to pause it.  Relief flooded the room as silence finally fell.

“I think I might throw up,” Eli commented quietly, looking both pale and green.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

“What is it?” Rush’s voice was muffled as he continued to gaze down the microscope, watching as dozens of tiny critters swam through the clear liquid.

“Some sort of micro-organism,” TJ replied as Young placed his hand on Rush’s shoulder.  Nicholas looked up at him, shrugging the hand off and moving quickly away.  With a tilt of his lips, Young moved to the microscope, amused by the younger man.

“Something brought back from the planet?” Young asked as he took his turn to gaze at the organisms.  Rush stood off to the side, arms crossed in an unconscious self-defense gesture.  When Young looked back up at him, he did not know whether to be amused or offended that Rush had reacted to him in such a way.

“Not the planet they just went to, no; the planet you and Scott went to,” she pointed at him, moving to lean against the nearby bench table on the other side of the room.  “The ice planet.”

“That was weeks ago,” Young commented, shifting towards TJ and leaving a clear path to the microscope should Rush wish to take another look.  The doctor frowned at him, reading his intentions accurately and confused behind the reason. 

Young raised an eyebrow, tilting his head to the device questioningly when Rush’s frown only deepened.  After a moment of silent staring, Rush hesitantly made his way back to the table, eyes locked on the Colonel as if waiting for the other foot to drop.  When nothing happened, he seemed to become more suspicious and Young thought his paranoia was both humorous and worrisome.

“This is a sample of the water we’ve been drinking, isn’t it?” Rush asked as he bent back over the microscope, reassured that if Young wanted to pull something, he would not do so in front of the medic.

TJ shifted uncomfortably, arms crossing as she gave the Colonel a questioning look.  He only shrugged at her in confusion and shook his head.  “When people outside the quarantine started coming down with symptoms, I knew we needed to look for another common source.”

“But we tested it at the time,” Young sighed as Rush all but sank into the stool next to the table.  The scientist rubbed at his eyes before fiddling with his glasses, a look of despair and defeat coloring his expression.

“At the time, we couldn’t see it,” TJ replied.  “The microscope just wasn’t powerful enough.  The organism was just too small,” her voice was curt and bitter as she shifted closer to the microscope and closer to Rush. 

The doctor shifted away from her, laying his arms on the table as his glasses were rotated between his fingers.  “Well,” he started, gazing up at Young.  “It isn’t now.”

“It’s possible,” TJ began gazing between the two, “that a batch of water wasn’t purified properly and it contaminated the rest.”

“So we’ve all got it?” Young questioned, pulling his gaze back to the medic and away from Rush.

“Well, everyone’s immune system is different.  The time it takes for symptoms to emerge will vary.  But once it’s strong enough to pass from the blood to the nervous system, it works fast…and the antibiotics won’t cut it.”

Silence fell over the group and Rush shifted to place his hands in his lap, lacing his fingers as he gazed upon the floor.  After a moment though, he looked up between them, the words flowing from his mouth despite his brain insisting he remain silent.  “Well, for a moment there, I thought we were in trouble.”

Young stared at him briefly before amusement had his lips quirking up at the corner.  He moved before he quite realized what he intended to do and his hand fell on Rush’s head, ruffling his hair before making a hasty retreat down the hall.  Rush flinched under the action, looking scandalized at the Colonel’s retreating form.  Fixing his hair, Rush felt his face heat up as he shouted after the man.  “Would you bloody well stop that?!”

“Not a chance in hell, Rush!” Young shouted back as he turned a corner.

Beside him, TJ tried and failed to hold in a snort of amusement.  Hand coming up to hide her smile as Rush turned to glare at her.  “Sorry,” she supplied between chuckles, not looking apologetic at all.  Rush just huffed in annoyance before he made his way down the hall as well.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

The Kino came back on slowly, the screen flickering in and out of focus before finally adjusting.  The image was tilted as if the Kino was on its side.  It was unusual seeing it that way as the stabilizers usually corrected automatically.  Eli’s hand could be seen clenched in the corner, a small trail of blood in the sand, and Scott’s prone form, still on the gurney.

Matt’s sudden groan and shifting startled the group watching the footage and Eli chuckled awkwardly.  On the screen, Matt shifted and grimaced in pain.  Reaching for the bandage, he peeled it back and groaned at the wound before pressing the dressing back to his shoulder.  It took longer than he hoped to prop himself up on his elbows, body soar and stiff from laying for so long.

_“Eli?”_ He asked, turning to look straight at the Kino.  Struggling to his feet, he stumbled over to the Kino, pulling the helmet off of Eli’s head and setting it on the rock behind him.  _“Eli…”_ Scott whispered, fingers fluttering to the kid’s neck, searching for a pulse.  Unable to find one, he pulled his hand away and it came back bloody.  On Eli’s chest was a gaping hole, the other side near his shoulder another.  Two of those creatures had burrowed their way through the student.  _“Oh, God…”_

Matt scrambled away from him, stumbling over the gurney and spinning about the cave.  Beside him Franklin lay on his own gurney, motionless.  He was pale, his chest did not rise or fall and Matt knew without checking that he was most assuredly dead.  TJ lay near one of the cave columns next to the entrance, staring up at the ceiling with unseeing eyes.  Just outside the cave, Greer and Charlie lay next to a fallen tree, Charlie tucked into Greer’s side.  There was blood everywhere.

Knees weak, Scott fell to the sandy floor, screaming as his friends lay dead around him.  He dug his hands into the sand, anguish in his movements as he wept.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

_“It’s uh…forty-five minutes,”_ Scott sniffed, wiping a hand across his nose and eyes as tears poured down his cheeks.  The footage shook with every stuttering breath he took as he held the Kino and talked into it.  _“Until_ Destiny _jumps back into FTL.”_ He broke off, crying.  Tucking his chin into his chest, Scott clenched his teeth as he fought to regain control of his emotions. 

_“Everyone here is dead…except me,”_ he took a deep breath, wiping at his nose.  _“I don’t remember much after we were attacked the first night.  One of the creatures bit me and I lost consciousness.  I’d been starting to feel sick; headache, pain in the back of the neck.  The bite still hurts like a bitch but everything else is uh…is better.”_ The Stargate fitzed in and out cut over some of the words and lit up the side of his face in a pale, pulsating blue.  His gaze turned to the Gate for a moment, eyes looking at the Event Horizon with both hope and despair.

_“The uh, Gate still doesn’t seem to be working.  I can’t reach_ Destiny _on the radio,”_ he turned back to the camera.  Matt took a deep, stuttering breath before continuing.  _“I’m hoping it’s just a communications problem and that everything else is uh…is okay up there.  I’m sending this through and I’m expecting that you will send some sort of a signal that it is safe to proceed.  I will wait as long as I can, then I’ll head through regardless.  On my own, I likely won’t survive the night here.”_

The screen shifted as Scott trotted up the ramp and then he tossed the Kino in through the unstable wormhole.  The footage whirled and distorted as the Kino rolled before coming to a stop at the other end of the ramp.  The screen fritzed in and out before focusing on the jungle beyond the Stargate, the same jungle that it had just left.  At the bottom of the screen was Nicholas Rush, lying face down in the ground…dead.

Eli’s fingers flew across the screen to pause it as Rush and Young caught each other’s gaze over him.  Gawking at the screen in bewilderment, he shifted back suddenly, breaking the staring contest between the two men and pulling their attention back to the screen.  “What…just…happened?!”

Young returned his gaze back to Rush, the scientist was staring at the screen in fascination as the answer finally came to him.  “It’s time travel…isn’t it?” Charlie asked, stepping closer to his student.  He asked the question as if dreading the answer.

“Yes,” Rush replied, already turning to stroll down the hall.  “It is.”

There was a moment of stillness in the room before Young moved to go after him, limping just slightly as he darted to catch up to the willowy man.  “What are you doing?”

“Making sure it hasn’t happened yet,” Rush replied, finally pulling to a stop in front of the control console in the Gate Room.  Pressing a few buttons that Young still had not bothered to learn, the Stargate activated and began to dial.

“ _What_ hasn’t happened yet?” Eli questioned as he followed the rest of the group into the Gateroom.  Charlie moved closer to the dialing Gate, stepping around Greer as the coordinates began to light up as they locked.

“The solar flare,” Nicholas replied quickly, accent breaking over the words as he rushed to explain.  “It’s the only explanation.  If a wormhole’s trajectory takes it too close to a star and it passes through an active solar flare, it can cause it move forwards or backwards in time.  In some cases the wormhole can actually loop back around and connect to the same Gate in a different time.  In this case, the past.”

“Whoa, whoa,” Eli cut it, shifting to lean against the banister of the curved staircase before shifting to look at Young and Rush.  “Okay, this is making my brain hurt. Uh…oh my god! _Back to the Future_!” He laughed and everyone turned to look at him.  “How could I not put that on my list?”

Rush huffed in annoyance and rolled his eyes as Eli laughed quietly to himself.  “The ‘us’ on the recording dropped out of FTL and went to the planet,” Rush began, shifting to the other side of the console as Young leaned in closer to read the screen (as if he could actually make out the words).  “Some time later,” he bit out, glaring at the Colonel until Everett took the hint and backed away.  “A solar flare occurred, preventing normal Gate travel.”

“So, Lieutenant Scott thought that he was sending the Kino back to the _Destiny_ , but he was really sending it to back to the planet, 39 years ago,” Charlie commented absentmindedly as he wandered up the steps to where he could sit and still be at height with everyone else.

“Wait,” Eli turned to him bewildered.  “Sorry, 39? How did you get that number?”

“Plant growth,” Charlie replied as he picked at his thumbnail.

Eli scoffed in disbelief.  “Plant growth…really?  You saw the screen for like, two seconds.  How could you possibly come up with that number?”

Charlie smiled down at him indulgently.  “The tree trunk.”

“Yeah,” Eli continued undeterred.  “But seriously…how did you do it?”

“Simple, Eli, there was a severed trunk in the clearing…you saw it on the screen.  It had rings just as Earth trees do, just as thick as if from the Amazon Rainforest indicating lots of water.  That tree was 253 years old when it fell.  We know from data collected and the planet’s relation to the sun that it has 372 days in a year, 26 hours in a day.  That would be 1 year and 38 days for Earth.  So the tree was 280 years old Earth time. The growth and degradation of the remaining trunk showed that it was felled at least 31 years ago, that’s 34 Earth years.  As you saw by the circumference of the trunk, when the Kino rolled down the ramp the tree could only have been 248 years old, it fell five years after that and 34 years later…we arrived.  Therefor, 39 Earth years, or if you like 36 years on the planet.”

Eli stared at him befuddled. “Seriously! When did you have time to figure that out?!”

Charlie glanced nervously around the room, eyes darting to each person as they all gazed at him.  Usually, outside of the classroom he would be ridiculed for the way his brain worked.  But he was coming to find that things were different on the _Destiny._   “When we were walking down the hall,” he supplied after a while.

“You figured all that out from several seconds of footage and a short stroll down a hall?” Young asked curiously.  After he received a hesitant nod Young whistled appreciatively.  “Your brain is terrifying.” When Charlie continued to stare at him shyly, Everett could not help himself from smiling at the kid.  “That was a complement.”

“Uh, thanks?” Charlie replied hesitantly, hand reaching up to rub at his neck.  It had started to ache not long ago.  Young’s eyes narrowed as he observed the younger man, but his attention was pulled away before he could question him.

“Okay,” Eli clapped his hands to gather everyone’s attention.  “So that was really us…on the Kino? God that is weird?”

“Us in a previous, unaltered time line,” Rush supplied as the Stargate locked onto its last coordinate and the Event Horizon exploded from the center.  Charlie did not think he would ever get used to the site, or grow old watching it.  “It’s been modified now by the introduction of the Kino from the future.”

Greer turned from the Gate, stepping closer to the scientist and the Colonel.  “Why are we dialing the Gate back there?”

Rush sighed in relief as the Event Horizon held and remained undisturbed.  “As I said, to make sure the solar flare that disrupted Gate travel hasn’t happened yet, and thankfully it hasn’t.”

“Yeah,” Greer replied, fists clenched down at his side.  “But why do we care about that?”

“Because,” Rush replied, turning his gaze to Young who was standing a little closer than he was comfortable with.  “I think we may have to go back there.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

TJ stared at the screen with a contemplative expression.  Eli paused the video, halting Scott’s speech mid-sentence as Rush paced the length of the floor behind her.  He felt trapped in the room.  Lieutenants Scott and Johansen stood in front of the console, Eli seated between them.  Greer and Young were leaning on opposite sides of the bulkhead door, blocking the way out however unintentionally. 

Professor Eppes had scampered off to the Infirmary under Greer’s _careful_ guidance.  Charlie said he wanted to keep Chloe company, but everyone knew by the way his eyes pinched in pain and he swayed as he walked that he too was starting to feel the effects of the micro-organisms.  If anyone else fell ill, there would be no one left to help fix it.  Rush’s own headache was starting to pound at the base of his skull, but he was unsure if it was just stress or the beginning stages of the parasites blocking the blood flow to his brain.

“It’s possible, I guess.” TJ commented quietly to the room, eyes catching briefly on Rush’s ever moving form.  His shoulders were hunched upwards in a defensive pose, but he was rubbing his palm in a self-comfort gesture, as if he could not decide to attack or flee.  She understood the sentiment, wanting nothing more than to bury her head in her blankets and wake up to find this all some sick sort of nightmare.  “The venoms of various animals: snakes, spiders, scorpions…they’ve all been tested for their antibiotic properties.”

Scott shifted hopefully.  “What?  You’re saying that _thing_ that bit me can actually cure what’s making…everybody sick?”  ‘ _Making Chloe sick’_ was unsaid but still heard.

“You fell into a coma,” TJ explained.  “It obviously releases some sort of venom when it bites.  You apparently survived…said you were feeling better.”

“But…” Eli interrupted, standing abruptly and moving to TJ’s other side as he twisted the pocket of his jacket in worry.  “You’re just guessing.  And those things were…” he gestured violently to the screen, eyebrows scrunched as he paled.

“Based on the video,” TJ spoke abruptly, drawing his attention away from the footage.  “People are going to die from this infection, and quickly.” She turned swiftly to Young, startling Rush as he came to a stop near the other end of the room, arms crossed as he pressed his back into the wall.  “I know it seems like a wild stab in the dark, but I don’t know what else to do,” her voice was strained, desperate.

Young sighed and everyone turned to look at him.  “Well, we’ve all been exposed.  I mean, how many are already in the Infirmary? Twenty? Thirty? Hell…Chloe, Park, and Charlie are already there.  Brody’s been complaining about his head and Volker’s nearly catatonic.  Pretty soon there’s gonna be no one left on this boat to run it.  It’s just a matter of time.”

The silence that followed was deafening.  TJ’s expression turned desperate as Young became somber.  “I’ll go, sir,” Greer spoke suddenly, determined.

“Not by yourself, you won’t,” Young promised him.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Rush shoved his hands into his jean pockets, the right side giving more as the stitches had started to come undone.  If he could not get them to stop trembling then he had to hide them.  He watched with what he hoped appeared to be detached boredom as Young and the others clipped on tac-vests and checked ammo. 

The Stargate lit the room with a blue haze; accentuating lines, bruises, and sunken flesh in a sickly manner.  Young glanced around, watching how the light illuminated what he had been too tired to see.  Everyone was exhausted and wrung out.  They all had gone too long with limited sleep and rations that continued to be cut as each day passed.  They were hungry, cold, and tired…and there was not a damned thing he could do about it.

Scott shuffled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his hand across his bruised eyes.  Everett could tell by the way his eyes pinched that he was in pain.  It would not be long before he too fell to the effects of the organisms.  “Don’t need a liability, Scott.”

“I’m good to go, sir,” Scott replied quickly.  He straightened his spine, and looked him straight in the eye.  That kind of stubbornness would have gotten him a dressing down if they were anywhere else, but Young needed that bullheaded determination if they were going to make it through this ordeal.

Eli cleared his throat and drew everyone’s attention as he pulled up the live Kino feed.  “Getting visuals now.  It’s night time and, oh hey…surprise surprise: it’s raining!” He commented in a parody of excitement, but he was unable to hide the bitterness in his tone, even through his mocking imitation of a smile.

“Which means those things’ll probably be out,” Scott sighed.

Greer shuffled up to the Gate behind Young.  “That’s too bad.  They looked to be easy pickings when they were sleeping in the nests during the day.”

“We can’t wait,” Young reminded him softly as Scott and Spencer came up to his other side as he shrugged his own backpack into place.

Eli moved from behind the console, bringing the Kino remote with him as he stepped up to the armed group.  He felt displaced, the situation surreal, as if he was a spectator watching someone parade around in his body.  Never in a million years did he think he would be here, on a space ship, in space, directing military personnel, and feeling like he was a part of something.  “According to the time stamp on the recording, you have an hour ‘til the first team lost contact because of the solar flare.”

“Forty-five minutes,” Rush cut in, pacing forward a few halting steps as he caught Young’s eye.  “To be safe,” he cautioned.

“How many do you think we’ll need?” Scott asked TJ as he clipped that last strap across his chest in place.

“Hopefully a small dosage of the venom will do it.”

“Dead or alive?”

“Alive,” TJ answered after a moment.  “I can’t exactly anticipate the physiology.”

Young looked around the group, from the three military men coming with him, to the medic and two civilians staying behind.  “Not much time,” he cautioned all of them before turning back to the Gate.  He raised his fingers in a mock salute to Nicholas’ near silent wish of luck and stepped through the Event Horizon.

Nicholas raised a shaky hand as the Gate powered down and rubbed the back of his neck as his headache continued to build.  Both TJ and Eli look over at him but said nothing as his eyes pinched shut and he leaned heavily on the console.  There was nothing to say…nothing they could do.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

The _Destiny_ seemed to shift around him as TJ helped Charlie into his own bed.  It was as if the ship was in a storm, but it was not quantifiable as they were in space.  Chloe was still prone on the bed and Eli took the chair that Charlie had vacated.  He had wanted to sit with the young girl longer, but even in the haze he seemed to have fallen in, Charlie understood Eli’s need to be with his friend.  So he only complained a little when TJ pulled a blanket around his shoulders and pressed her hand into his forehead.

The medic reminded him of his mother when he was younger.  TJ just seemed to have this air about her that was stern and caring at the same time…just like his mom before the cancer took her.  It was only because of this that he allowed her to press his head down, check his pulse, and fret about him like a mother hen.  And it most certainly was not because he found comfort in her gestures.

Charlie fell into a fitful sleep as TJ fluffed his pillow and sighed in fondness.  He was even able to put the reminder that someone had died on this very bed not twenty minutes ago out of his mind.  TJ, on the other hand, was not.

She moved quietly over to the math student as he held Chloe’s hand.  Trying to be as unobtrusive as possible, she quickly went about her business checking Chloe’s temperature and pulse.  Although TJ tried to hide it, Eli looked up at her in worry as she let out a shaky sigh.

“Her pulse is very weak.” The words seemed bitter in her mouth.  “I just want you to be prepared.  I’m not sure she’s gonna make it.”

Eli shook his head, a bitter resemblance of a smile on his lips as denial soaked into every corner of his being.  “Of _course_ she is.”

She looked up from Chloe’s still form but could not bring herself to meet Eli’s gaze.  Lips pressed together, she gave a hesitant nod as she moved away to see to the others before Eli saw in her face what she already knew.  Chloe was not going to make it, there just was not enough time.  TJ had hoped, but the bitter press of reality weighed heavily on her.  She _wanted_ Eli to be right, but somewhere in the back of her mind, as her own neck began to ache and her head began to pound…she knew.

TJ moved past Charlie’s bed and came to a stop beside her friend.  Vanessa was still and pale as TJ pressed her hand to her forehead.  Park came up to her, stumbling against the partition and the bed as TJ pressed one hand to Vanessa’s wrist and brought the other up to read her watch.

“We’re out of antibiotics,” Park grunted, leaning heavily on the bed.  TJ lowered her hand carefully, the numbers on her watch blinking as she smoothed the hair out of Vanessa’s face. 

They had not always been friends.  In fact, when TJ first got assigned to Doctor Simms in Medical on Icarus, Vanessa and she got off to a bad start.  It was not really anybody’s fault, more of bad luck on top of bad timing.  Four cups of coffee, three medic assistants, a guard, a lamp, and several desk ornaments began their rivalry.  It took seven months of petty pranks, snide comments, and one cat fight in the mess hall before they saw eye to eye.  After that they fell into their friendship with an ease that honestly terrified their commanding officers and the disciplinary board.

However they had started, TJ did not see how this could have ended up as their finale.  Park gave her a questioning look, but TJ only sniffed lightly as she pulled the blanket up and over Vanessa’s still form.  She felt helpless, her eyes stinging as she turned to the sound of Eli’s voice.

“Why do people always wait until times like these to tell someone how they really feel?” He laughed softly, voice trembling as he fought to keep himself from crying.  TJ turned to him fully, eyes red as a tear tracked its way down her cheek.  Her hand was still clasped around Vanessa’s wrist as if she could not bringer herself to let go.  “It’s so stupid.  I…I just…” Eli sniffed as he failed to keep his tears at bay, staring off at a point over TJ’s shoulder before he returned to gaze at Chloe’s unmoving face. 

“Screw it,” he mumbled, shifting around uncomfortably before settling as he placed his other hand over hers, clasping it between his two.  “We haven’t known each other that long,” he started, gaze flicking from her hand to her face.  “But I think…we make each other happy.  When I’m near you, things are just…they’re just _better_.  You don’t even know how amazing you are!” He chuckled, his smile falling quickly as his laugh nearly turned into a sob.

“It doesn’t matter,” he continued after a moment, subdued.  “I’ve never had a best friend before.  Never…never known anyone like that before.  Never loved-” he cut himself off, unable to continue.  TJ and Lisa looked away from him, unable to bring themselves to view his pain.  TJ brought her sleeve up, muffling her sob as she turned her gaze back to her own best friend, tightening her grip on Vanessa’s wrist one last time before she forced herself to let go. 

When Eli continued, his voice was almost too soft to be heard, but the way it still carried across the room seemed unfair to TJ as they witnessed his confession.  “I just…” he sighed loudly, looking up as he fought to keep the tears from falling.  “I _need_ to make sure that you know I’m here for you.  Always will be.  So please… _please_ don’t die.”

He wanted to continue, wanted to say the words that stuck to the back of his throat and refused to roll of his tongue.  Wanted to confess how much he loved her, how he could not dream of continuing on this ship without her…but the words would not come.  After a moment, TJ shuffled over to him, taking Chloe’s wrist as she gazed at her face.  She could not bear to look at Eli as he gazed up at her with hope.

“Eli…” She stopped, as a fresh new wave of tears fell.  “…she’s gone.”

No. 

The word got caught somewhere between his brain and his mouth. 

Eli looked at Chloe, took in her pale face and the stillness of her.  Not even her eyes twitched…she was too motionless. 

_No!_

It was not supposed to go this way.  This was not how their story was supposed to end.  He left quickly, his long strides carrying him out of the Infirmary as TJ gently covered Chloe with her blanket.  Eli could not leave fast enough.

…no.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

“I don’t see anything!” Greer shouted, voice barely heard over the dull roar of the rain hitting the forest floor.

“They’ve gotta be here somewhere!” Young yelled back, sweeping the torch on his rifle in wide arcs as Scott scrolled through the live Kino footage.  The night vision lit the jungle up in contrasting whites and greys.

_“Colonel Young?”_ The radio crackled and everyone came to a halt in a loose circle.  _“This is Rush, come in.”_

Young grabbed the radio, fingers slipping over the plastic before he adjusted his grip accordingly.  Everything was soaked, even his socks.  With every step he took, they squelched in his boots and weighed him down.  Not one part of him was dry.  “I read you.  Go ahead.”

There was a pause on the other side before the radio crackled back to life.  _“Checking in.”_

Young frowned as Scott answered him.  That kind of hesitation only meant one of two things.  Either Rush was about going to do something stupid and was avoiding telling him, or something was happening and Rush was avoiding telling him.  Either way, Rush was not telling him something and it made him feel uneasy.

“Rush…” Young cut in as the Lieutenant finished updating the Scotsman.  He said the word as if in caution, drawing it out like an accusation.

There was another long silence on the other end and Young allowed it.  Nicholas had a way of phrasing things and he always did it in a way that was either profitable for him, or at the very least not damaging.  It was annoying as hell, but Young learned early on at Icarus that it was better to let the man work out his own words in his own time then to push him.  Rush did not like to be pushed, and sometimes would draw it out longer just to be able to gloat.  Nicholas Rush may be a bastard, but he was a useful bastard.

_“I’m sorry to have to tell you…we’ve lost four people.  Doctors Franklin and Volker, Lieutenant James…and Chloe.”_

Young snapped his attention to Scott as the Lieutenant seemed to just sag in defeat.  His rifle dropped downward and his gaze became fixated upon the darkness beyond there ring of light.  “Copy that,” Young sighed into the radio.  “Check in again in ten minutes.” He clicked the radio off before approaching the younger man.  “Lieutenant…Lieutenant, we need you.”

It was only when Young began to yell his name did the Matt finally turn to him and nod.  The rain made the tears easy to hide, but not the redness of his eyes.  Either way, no one commented.

A squeal from above drew Greer’s attention.  He shined his torch into the tree top, scanning the branches as he began to move backwards towards the group.  Even with his diligence, he could not see the creature until it was upon him.  It landed on his upper chest, catching on one of his straps and lunging at his neck.  Screaming, he fell as the parasite forced its body downward into his torso, clutching the trigger of his gun as it began to fire wildly about in the clearing.  A stray bullet caught Spencer in the leg as he tried to pry off the creature that was mostly inside of the Master Sergeant.  Spencer only got a grip on its tail before another parasite launched itself at him, making quick work of its teeth.  It was halfway inside him before he even hit the ground.

Scott turned as Young began to scream, shining his torch on the Colonel as the thing broke through his ribs and went straight into his chest.  He stood there for a moment, the rain cascading down as the screaming finally stopped.  It took several seconds for his brain to comprehend what it was that his eyes saw. 

Everyone was dead.  He was the only one left.  Grabbing the remote he made a run for the Gate, shooting blindly behind him as he tripped over wet foliage and roots.

Shedding his backpack, he threw it to the base of the ramp as he fell to his knees.  Fingers sliding over the remote as he dialed the Gate back to _Destiny_.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

The sound of the Stargate dialing in startled Rush out of his thoughts.  He watched in confusion from his position on the stairs as Eli wondered over to him.  The young student had been hiding in the shadows for the past few minutes, dancing between the threshold of the room and the hall.  Rush had let him be, unable and unknowing how to comfort him while he grieved. 

Charlie wandered in behind him, passing Eli who was leaning on the banister and collapsing onto the bottom step below Rush.  “Shouldn’t you still be in the Infirmary?” Rush questioned lightly, rubbing the base of his neck as Charlie seemed to all but fold into himself.  He looked small, Greer’s military jacket practically swallowing the young man’s much smaller frame.

“Shouldn’t you?” Charlie bit out, tone accusing as he watched Rush drop his hand as if burned.  “You probably felt the symptoms before I did.”

He was right, of course.  The base of Rush’s neck ached and his head was pounding.  It had been for hours.  Rush felt light headed, dizzy, and weak.  But that was not going to stop him for working.  And it was not going to stop him from trying to save everyone’s ass…again.

“Touché,” Rush mumbled quietly as the Gate finally stopped spinning and the Event Horizon burst from the center.  “They’re early…” he added softly, worried.  That could either mean good news, or something had gone very wrong.  “Colonel Young?” Rush called into the radio.  “Colonel Young, do you read?”  Nicholas pushed the tight knot forming in his stomach to the back of his mind as worry began to settle in.  It seemed to be making a home inside him, along with hunger, anger, cold, and tired.  Pretty soon that would be all that was left of him…of anyone.  It was becoming a state of being, a default setting.  There was no room for anything else because there was no time for anything else. 

“Colonel Young, respond…Everett!”

Only silence answered him.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Matt lifted the Kino, wiping the tears and rain from his eyes as he set it to record.  “If you found this, it’s because a solar flare interfered with Gate travel and I managed to send this Kino back in time,” he pulled in a deep breath, dragging it in his lungs before expelling it quickly.  “All right, listen carefully.  There is a disease in the water we brought back from the ice planet.  It is fatal and we have all been drinking it.  But there is hope.  There’s a creature that lives on this planet…lots of them, actually.  They could hold the key to saving you.  In small doses their venom actually cures the disease, but be very careful.  They’re deadly, but they’re also nocturnal.  They only come out at night.  You get them during the day while they’re asleep in their nests.  They’re not far from the Gate.”

He turned suddenly, pulling the pistol from his thigh holster and firing at the parasite that was creeping up behind him.  It seemed to almost burst apart, its bright yellow blood explode around it.  Matt turned back to the Gate and the stable wormhole it contained.  “Come on!” He screamed, praying that his plan would work.  Seconds later the Stargate seemed to emit a noise of static and started to pulse and fritz as the solar flare interfered.  “Please believe me,” Scott begged into the Kino.  “You don’t have much time.  Act now, or you are all going to die.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Charlie tripped as the platform beneath him took a sudden dip down at a decline.  He stumbled into Greer’s back, catching himself on the man’s tac-vest as he tried to regain his balance.  The Sergeant turned to him, rifle at the ready as he visually swept the immediate area for hostiles, and Charlie flushed as the man leered at him.  Mumbling a quick apology, Charlie hustled to where Rush and Eli were gathered just a few yards from the base of the ramp.

He came up to them just as Rush crouched down and Eli picked something up.  “What’s that?”

“Hey guys,” Eli shouted, turning to the rest of the group as they started forward.  “Check this out!” In his hands he held two Kino’s.  The group seemed to stare at them dumbfounded before Rush grabbed something else and stood.  “Hey, you find another one?” Eli questioned.

“No,” Rush replied tartly, before rotating the object in his hands and displaying it to the others.  It was a human skull.

“Uh, Colonel Young?” Scott spoke into the radio as more people strolled down the ramp.  “Sir…you need to see this.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is way late, no excuse. This was by far the hardest chapter I have ever written, and the longest. I reached an all time record: 22,317 words, 79 pages, and at least five seriously bonding moments.


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